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KABBALISTIC 
TEACHINGS 
of the 
FEMALE 
PROPHETS
The Seven Holy Women
of Ancient Israel
J. ZOHARA MEYERHOFF HIERONIMUS
Inner Traditions 
Rochester, Vermont
Like the scent of goodly oils is the spreading fame 
of Your great deeds: Your very name is Flowing 
Oil, therefore have nations Loved you.
SONG OF SONGS 1:3
Praise HaShem, Host of Hosts 
For giving us life and His Torah.
Acknowledgments
Without the enduring love of my husband, Dr. Robert R. Hieronimus, and
his regard for the spiritual path, I would have been less able to pursue the
prophetic lineage of which our age is an inheritor. Love to my Meyerhoff
and Hieronimus families, the Hendlers, Rubensteins, Pancoes, Katzes,
Schewels, and all their branches for their support, wisdom, and humor; and
to my ancestors for their own love of Torah, HaShem, and the People of the
Book. May their memory be for a blessing! A special acknowledgment to
my great-grandfather Oscar (Asher) Meyerhoff (1864–1946) for informing
my heart and soul from above with a love of Chassidut and Torah, and for
planting our family tree in America. Thank you to all the women who have
taken part in my classes and discussions on the teachings of the seven
prophetesses of Israel and for sharing, in joy, these remarkable women. For
my daughter, Anna, and stepdaughter, Mare: May the prophetesses guide
you in finding peace and purpose in your own lives. Great thanks to Laura
Cortner for her constant and tireless assistance in whatever is needed, and to
Meghan Bowen and Alden Brigham for taking care of my broadcasting
needs. To all the wonderful providers at the Ruscombe Mansion
Community Health Center, which I founded in 1984: May your loving
attendance of others continue to be blessed.
Gratitude to R. Avraham Brandwein,1 Samuel Ben-Or Avital, R. Noah
Shavrick, and R. Simon Jacobson for their guidance in Torah and Kabbalah.
Shalom Shalom to the blessed Chazal (sages) whose teachings illuminate
our minds and hearts, bringing us closer to God, Torah, and peace.
I give great appreciation to R. Schneur Zalman (Baal HaTanya, author of
Likkutei Amarim Tanya); R. Yaakov Ibn Chaviv for his sixteenthcentury
work, Ein Yaakov, and R. Avraham Finkel for his translation of it; and R.
Moshe Chayim Luzzatto (the Ramchal, 1707–1747 CE) and R. Moshe
Cordovero (the Ramak, 1522–1570 CE) for all of their illuminations. In
addition to the Torah, their writings, translated into English, were my
primary set of keys, along with Gutman Locks’s The Spice of Torah—
Gematria, in my journey with the seven prophetesses of Israel and the
teachings of which they are a part.
Blessings to Inner Traditions International, with special gratitude to
Jeanie Levitan, Jamaica Burns, and Elaine Cissi, for their editorial
excellence and for making it possible to share the female prophets and their
holy lives with others. May the reader benefit by the shining light of their
guidance.
ROSH CHODESH, 30 NISSAN, 5767 
APRIL 18, 2007
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
 1 Prophecy and the Prophetesses 
 
The History of Prophecy in Judaism
 2 Kabbalistic Treasure Maps 
 
Introducing the Correspondences to the Seven Prophetesses of Israel
 3 Sarah 
 
Chesed • The Seed of Life Is Love
 4 Miriam 
 
Gevurah • The Waters of Deliverance
 5 Devorah 
 
Tiferet • The Beauty of Moral Order
 6 Chanah 
 
Netzach • The Victory of Spiritual Discipline
 7 Avigail 
 
Hod • Humility and the Royal Bloodline
 8 Chuldah 
 
Yesod • The Covenant and Promise of the World to Come
 9 Esther 
 
Malchut • The Redemption and Resurrection of Life
10 The Shechinah 
 
The Divine Immanence of the Creator
Appendix 1. The Songs of Miriam, Devorah, and Chanah
Appendix 2. Stones and Houses 
 
A Kabbalistic Method for Deciphering Words
Appendix 3. The Counting of the Omer
Appendix 4. Letters of Commendation
Footnotes
Glossary
Bibliography
About the Author
About Inner Traditions
Copyright
Preface
The female prophets are the seven holy women of Israel who lived between
the Middle Bronze Age (1880 BCE) and the end of the Persian period (350
CE). A study of their communal lives shows how the holy presence of God
reveals itself through prophecy in the world and in our lives and follows a
fundamental progression or an archetypal story for all of humanity. Their
collective story is one of conception, birth, learning correct moral action,
achieving holy spiritual conduct, the existence of royal lineages as a result
of both birth and spiritual merit, and the promise of the Moshiach (Messiah)
and of the World to Come (Olam HaBa), all culminating in the promise of
redemption and resurrection.
The seven prophetesses of Israel are Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Chanah,
Avigail, Chuldah, and Esther. Together, these seven women embody the
Creator’s presence in Judaism, referred to by the People of the Book as the
Divine Immanence of the Creator or the Shechinah. Each prophetess has
her own story to tell, and though each woman’s nature and apparent purpose
is a model for all of us cultivating our own intuition, self-refinement, and
closeness to God, an analysis of the combined lives of all the prophetesses,
spanning almost two thousand years, creates a system of evolution and
development as pertinent to our lives today as it was for the biblical
communities in which they originated. The details of their lives are also
important to discover, for in them we find the capacity for prophecy, an
ability to speak for and with the Creator, as well as the excellence of loving-
kindness, leadership, beauty, fortitude, humility, sacrifice and sovereignty in
service to the Creator, the word of God, and the goal of personal and global
harmony and redemption.
Others have shown correlations between the lives of these women and
different aspects of Kabbalah, but not in the manner in which this book
explores them. The Holy Sage the Arizal (R. Isaac Luria, 1534–1572)
teaches of the relationship between the seven species of Israel (wheat,
barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olive oil, and date honey) and the
Sefirot, or spheres of the Tree of Life. The Holy Sage the Ramak (R. Moshe
Cordovero) tells us of the relationship of the seven prophetesses to seven of
the overall ten Sefirot of the Tree of Life. These correspondences help us
see how our lives are part of a greater spiritual model. In addition, I have
included other systems of seven, such as the corresponding days of the
week. Doing so gives the reader a helpful guide to focus each day on a
particular quality inherent in the divine plan of the Creator reflected as it is
in our world.
A comprehensive integration of all of these elements—the prophetesses,
the Sefirot, the body, the seven species, the days of the week, and the
appropriate texts from the Judaic holy books—shows us a way of living and
acting in the world in any given situation in a way most harmonious to the
root nature of the Creator in whose image we are made.
These systems of seven manifest as a very specific progressive
development for Israel and every human being, symbolically and literally.
The story of the seven prophetesses of Israel is the story of every person’s
journey in general and the spiritual story of the Jewish people in particular.
From creation to redemption and ultimately resurrection, it is the story of
our entire world’s development. It points not only to where we come from,
but also to where we are soon to be in the promised thousand years of
peace, the messianic age.
THE PROPHETESSES AND THE 
TREE OF LIFE (ETZ CHAYIM)
We will study each of the prophetesses’ particular role in biblical history
and look at how each of them defines a different aspect of life for us
individually, for the nation, and for the world. We will see through ancient
Kabbalistic teachings that each prophetess is connected to the Sefirot, or
vessels, characterized throughout Kabbalah as the Tree of Life (Etz
Chayim). They are the Sefirot composing what are called the seven
emotions (middot):
Loving-kindnesswhy Kabbalah’s holy
map is a sacred tool for humanity’s development and refinement. Each of us
reflects this sacred pattern in our spiritual and material composition. Using
Kabbalah for self-refinement can lead to prophetic union with God and His
Holy Spirit, making our life meaningful, joyous, and full of peace.
Prior to settling on the Etz Chayim as a model for the gradual descent of
the light from God, the Creator used a variety of methods for distributing
His limitless light to the world. The Creator (HaShem)17 emanated His light
(orot) directly into vessels (kelim) below. Each successive vessel was
smaller than the one above it. Unable to hold all of the emanations from
preceding vessels, each Sefirah broke in succession. This resulted in what is
called in Kabbalah “the breaking of the vessels” (Shevirat HaKelim),
producing the “fallen sparks” that are encased in the shells of evil (kelipot).
It is from these kelipot or shells that all evil inclinations are derived.18 The
Creator’s purposeful event (Shevirat HaKelim) created the opportunity for
humanity to use its God-given free will for the repair of all sin. This is what
is meant by “choosing good.”
Elevating Good and Evil
When we do what is most beneficial according to the divine laws we are
given, we elevate the sparks in that situation, person, place, or idea. Each of
our spiritual missions includes elevating these fallen sparks of holiness
wherever they are found.
Man was given the task of rectifying all creation in maintaining all
things in the state desired by God, man is serving God and doing His
work. This is accomplished through man’s actions based on the Torah
and commandments that he was given. All of this, however, is based
on the fact that man is God’s servant, and was therefore given the task
of rectifying all creation. It is for this reason alone that his deeds can
have such an effect and he can thus actually accomplish this. The fact
that man has this responsibility is called God’s yoke …”19
… or the yoke of Torah.
The 613 divine commandments, the good deeds and blessings that
accompany them, and actions we are to restrain from doing rectify the light
encased in the kelipot or shells of evil in the world, transforming them,
elevating them, and sending them back to the Creator. We live in a world of
matter and spirit. The spirit of HaShem vivifies matter, materializing spirit,
so to speak—and human beings, birthed into the world of matter, elevate
the material realm by spiritualizing it. It is as though we act as an
alchemical helper, having the potential to refine everything we come into
contact with, and it is through this that even the good within evil is
elevated. This Lurianic (referring to R. Isaac Luria) frame of reference tells
a story of the creation of humankind, its fall, and its ultimate redemption.
The seven prophetesses of Israel prove these holy insights.
Lurianic Kabbalah tells this story of creation as a willed contraction—
tzimtzum—of the Creator and the resulting single ray of emanation this
contraction produced, which took the form of the ten Sefirot. According to
the Arizal, it is from the ten Sefirot that there was made Adam Kadmon, the
primordial man “who is the sole conduit and filter through which energy
flows from the Infinite into the finite worlds that are destined to be created
in the midst of the void.”20 The Ramchal (R. Moshe Chayim Luzzatto)
posits that all of this work (avodah) of self-refinement leads to elevating the
body itself. The body participates in the soul’s eternal glory by choosing
good in this world (Olam HaZeh), which will be elevated to a status of
immortality at resurrection. The ultimate reward for this accomplishment
and of control over our will and desires is in the World to Come (Olam
HaBa). Torah and Kabbalah give us the tools for this ultimate purpose of
perfection. All of the Lurianic Kabbalah stems from this foundation.21
Downward Flow, Upward Flow
The Creator’s light flows to us in a progressive and gradual descent of the
light (see fig. 2.2a, on page 44), allowing each Sefirah, or vessel (kelim), to
hold only so much of the essence above it. The light that fills each Sefirah
contains some of the light from every preceding vessel—but not all of it,
which protects each Sefirah from breaking.
As shown in figure 2.2a, a little bit of Chochmah (divine wisdom, circle
2) is in every vessel below, but only enough to filter down to each lower
vessel. It is for this reason that in Ashlagian Kabbalah (Kabbalah as
interpreted by R. Yehudah Ashlag, a twentieth-century derivative of
Lurianic teachings as taught by R. Avraham Brandwein in Jerusalem), the
denser the vessel, the finer the light. The farther from the source of the
original emanation (fig. 2.2a, Keter, circle 1), the denser it is and the more
“materialized” it has become. Like a progressive stack of strainers inside of
one another, the finer the mesh (hence, the denser the vessel), the finer the
particle that can be sifted through.
We find this same “flow” in the lives and stories of the prophetesses. In
the personal teaching and contributions of each chronologically successive
prophetess we can find apparent elements of the prophetesses who lived
before her. One example of this progressive descent of qualities (light):
Sarah, who represents the first of the seven Sefirot we will study (Chesed or
loving-kindness; circle 4), lived for 127 years. Queen Esther, who
corresponds to the last and most earthbound Sefirah (Malchut, or kingdom
and sovereignty; circle 10), ruled over 127 provinces. Such likenesses show
up throughout the lives of the prophetesses.
The Tree of Life (Etz Chayim; fig. 2.2b) is a ten-dimensional pictogram.
As part of the oral and written Torah, it describes the spiritual and material
human, representing the way in which the light of God and Divine
Immanence (the Shechinah) reaches us. When we choose good, using our
free will for its ultimate purpose—to make a sacrament of all life—we
reverse this process and proceed from the bottom Sefirah, Malchut (circle
10), ascending by moving from left to right: circle 9 to circle 8 and so on,
until we reach circle 1 at the top. Therefore, life, like the sap in a tree that
invigorates it, flows downward from the Creator and then upward in return.
This divine energetic pattern is recognized in many cultures, as it is by the
People of the Book. Free will is our energy pump, and choosing good adds
to the world’s perfection. Likwise, choosing its opposite—choosing to do
evil—adds to its deterioration or even what is referred to as spiritual
“pollution.”22
Figure 2.2. (a) A simplified diagram of light’s descent, 
(b) a dimensional model of the Sefirot.
This is a brief preliminary explanation of the mechanics of how our
thoughts, words, and deeds elevate the sparks in the world by spiritualizing
them through good intention and actions. It is also how we will eventually
elevate the body to merit an eternal composition, like the soul it houses
during life, and it is this thesis that serves as the backdrop to this book. The
world itself is ultimately designed to be eternal.23
THE THIRTY-TWO PATHS OF WISDOM AND THREE PILLARS
While we acknowledge that the Creator has no form and that the Etz
Chayim is only a symbolic representation meant for humanity’s use, it is a
design that helps us integrate into a harmonious whole our material and
spiritual makeup of body and soul. The Etz Chayim is composed of three
pillars referred to by the names of three Sefirot: Chesed (loving-kindness)
on the right side, Gevurah (judgment and strength) on the left, and Tiferet
(beauty and truth) in the middle.
The limitless light of the Creator (Or En Sof) is the source of vitality that
fills the Tree of Life’s Sefirot and illuminates all life. All existence—day
and night, life and death, left and right—is dependent on the Creator.
Kabbalah is the method for studying how light changes depending on the
vessel it fills. All ten of the Sefirot are distinct vessels with individualqualities and functions. The lower seven Sefirot represent the articulated
emotions or middot, which means “measured flows” in Hebrew and refers
to the Sefirot as ten measures, telling us that the Sefirot are sources of
vitality or measures of light. Each Sefirah also has a corresponding quality
and body part to which our lives are connected in both the material and
spiritual worlds. Between the Sefirot are twenty-two pathways,
corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the Alef-
Bet, connecting them to each other. The combination of these twenty-two
paths connecting the Sefirot and the ten Sefirot themselves make up the
thirty-two paths of wisdom (figure 2.3). The central column in the Etz
Chayim harmonizes the left and right columns, which is why the middle
path is regarded as the most difficult but also the most beneficial.
Figure 2.3. The Arizal’s Etz Chayim and the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom. The thirty-two paths are
understood as the ten Sefirot and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as shown here.
Map 2 ( Bet): Tree of Life and the Three Pillars24
Note that on this map, the descent of light follows the direction of the arrows.
THE TREE OF LIFE AND THE HUMAN BODY
The upper three of the ten Sefirot form a triad called the Sechol, Hebrew for
“intellect.” They represent different components of the intellectual and
spiritual realms and faculties we possess, contributing to our intellectual
insight and our understanding and knowing of something. They also
represent the faculties of seeing, hearing, smelling, and speaking. You will
notice that one Sefirah—Daat—is the third element in the triad including
Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah (understanding) when Keter, the crown and
the source of all emanations (Or En Sof, limitless light) is excluded. Below
the intellect or head is the body, represented by the remaining seven Sefirot
with corresponding symbolic body parts. The Sefirot are divided into four
levels, or “worlds”: Atzilut (emanation), Beriyah (creation), Yetzirah
(formation), and Asiyah (action). The worlds have correspondences in the
realm of the soul’s five components: Nefesh (soul), Ruach (spirit),
Neshamah (pneuma or breath), Chayah (life force), and Yechidah (spark of
God). The worlds, the Sefirot within them, the five parts of the human soul,
the human body, our intellect, and our emotions are all integrated in
Kabbalah. For a chart summarizing these correspondences, and for further
information on the five parts of the soul, see the section in chapter 10
beginning on page 359.
Opposites are combined in Kabbalah and life to produce balance. The
lives of the prophetesses embody the Sefirot’s inherent purpose, drawing us
to that balance. For example, we use our right and left legs (Netzach and
Hod) to walk. The torso (Tiferet) connects the legs at the hips. In
Kabbalistic studies, the middle pillar represents the synthesis of the other
two pillars, though each pillar has additional unique qualities.
Lovingkindness (Chesed, the right hand) and strength or judgment
(Gevurah, the left hand) together produce beauty and truth (Tiferet). Victory
and eternity (Netzach) combine with majesty and humility (Hod) to produce
a solid foundation (Yesod). They are all reflected in the sovereign kingdom
of life (Malchut).
Becoming familiar with each Sefirah’s qualities, strengths, and purpose
gives us a way to measure our own behavior. For instance, when we are
asked to do something for someone else, we are told to use both our hands.
This means that Chesed (our right hand of loving-kindness) should be
combined with Gevurah (our left hand of judgment) to determine how to
give, what to give, and to whom.
Map 3 ( Gimel): The Body and the Tree of Life
THE SEFIROT AND THE FAMILY TREE
Also in Kabbalah, the name of the Creator— Yod (10) + Hay (5) + Vav
(6) + Hay (5) = 26—represents the Partzufim, or personification of
archetypal family members. Another methodology used in Kabbalah for
describing the individual Sefirah of the Etz Chayim is to link each of them
to different family members—these Partzufim (faces), personas, or roles
(Partzuf) of the overall family group. While these terms are used sparingly
in this work, they serve as a tool for readers who want to explore this aspect
of Torah and Kabbalah more fully. Described by the Arizal in this fashion,
the Tree of Life also becomes a pattern for understanding familial relations.
Keter is related to the Great-Grandfather or Ancient One (Arikh Anpin),
also referred to as Long Face or Patient One. Father and Mother (Abba and
Imma) are the permanent male–female union of Chochmah and Binah and
are often called “lovers” or “friends” in Kabbalah. Zeir Anpin, the Son, is
also called the Small Face or Impatient One and is composed of the six
Sefirot of Chesed through Yesod. Nukvah, the final Partzuf, represents the
female as Wife, Daughter, and Shechinah in the realm of Malchut.25 If we
look at the Etz Chayim from this perspective, we can understand why we
each reign over a kingdom, a particular life, and a body. We are all part of a
dynamic cosmic arrangement of correspondences, making it clear how life
on earth is a spiritual as well as a physical reality.
THE STORY OF THE PROPHETESSES
Now that we have examined the basic design of the Tree of Life of
Kabbalah, its corresponding days of the week, seven species, and stages of
personal and global development, a brief examination of each Sefirah’s
additional qualities and meanings as they are expressed by the collective
lives of the prophetesses will support the coming chapters. This
developmental story is the premise of this book: The combined lives of the
seven prophetesses teach us how to use the Etz Chayim (Tree of Life). They
are themselves the expressed manifestation of the Creator’s Immanence
(Shechinah) in its gradual descent into the world of B’nai Yisrael (Children
of Israel) and the rest of the world. The prophetesses’ progressive story
describes the journey of every person’s efforts toward living a holy life.
Map 4 ( Dalet): Partzufim, or Roles of Members of the Family
The Sefirot and the Shechinah are one. Accepting that all of the Sefirot
are aspects of a single entity, that within each Sefirah are qualities of all the
others, then it is logical to view all seven prophetesses as aspects of a single
form. That singular form is the Shechinah, the presence or Divine
Immanence of the Creator. This embodiment is sometimes called the King’s
Daughter.26 In his The Palm Tree of Devorah, the Ramak shows us that the
Sefirot are the garments that the Creator wears in order to make His
presence known to us.27 We can say that the seven stages of development
presented here are the stages in our personal and communal relationship to
the Creator’s divine presence, a description of His descent and our ultimate
ascent. It is an ever-deepening manifestation of His presence and our
realization and participation in His divinity on earth.
The teachings of R. Yehudah Loew of Prague (the Maharal, 1512– 1609
CE) explain why we have physical bodies. In the spiritual realm, opposites
such as good and evil and night and day cannot be integrated. They remain
separate from each other. On earth, it is the human being that can act as a
conduit through which these polarities are made manifest as a balance. It is
the incarnate soul that presses the body into service to do some of the
“heavy lifting” of matter, making it realized in the name of God. This is the
same as elevating the fallen sparks encased in the kelipot (see earlier in the
chapter). The soul and body in partnership elevate the spirit in all matter.
The following summary of the Sefirotic story of the prophetesses is
developed more fully in the following chapters focusing on each individual
woman.
Sarah–Chesed (Seed, Beginning): Every idea, every action, every
relationship has its beginning. Our first stage of existence and hence
the first stage in creating anything is conceiving it with the intention oflove, just as we were conceived by God. It is important to endow these
initiatives with loving-kindness. The Creator’s love for us is abundant,
and so too should our love be for all of creation. The seed of all life is
love.
Miriam–Gevurah (Deliverance, Manifestation): After we conceive an
idea, begin a relationship, or start to work at something, the
manifestation should include loving-kindness and discrimination. In
manifestation we learn to separate the holy from the unholy. Our
second stage of development is the manifestation of this love
beginning to work on our self-refinement, to remove from our nature
that which is unholy, making boundaries and limits productive to
development in ourselves and in our surroundings.
Devorah–Tiferet (Moral Order): In the third stage of personal and
global development, the individual joins with the community to create
moral order, to have relationships built on love and holiness. Proper
boundaries harmonized with considering the welfare of others makes a
beautiful, moral society. In this third stage the Shechinah binds us
together, requiring that we focus on integrating everything in service to
God as a communal consciousness.
Chanah–Netzach (Spiritual Order): After we or society learn to
conduct ourselves in a just and compassionate manner, we or the
society must take the next step of group refinement into a disciplined
devotion to the Creator. Just as the individual does this in Gevurah, the
second stage, the community does this in Netzach, the fifth stage. In
this way the community takes part in birthing Moshiach (the Messiah),
in bringing God’s kingship to earth. Spiritual discipline gives us the
endurance to persevere in greater and greater refinement.
Avigail–Hod (Royal Bloodline): A group guided by love, holiness, and
oral and spiritual discipline is capable of receiving the Creator’s
chosen redeemer. In our own lives it means we anoint our soul to guide
us—the body is no longer the ruler but the servant to the presence of
the Shechinah in each one of us. Through our humility, we merit
becoming members of the royal family: holy humans. We are from the
royal bloodline dating back to Adam and Eve.
Chuldah–Yesod (World to Come): At this sixth stage in a community or
global life, recognition of the interconnection between the material and
spiritual worlds makes it possible to prepare for a society reflecting
attachment to the eternal and disengaging from temporal values. In the
individual, this means completeness in serving the world and God and
in being a connector to the holy covenant, which includes our
redemption from ignorance and separation from God.
Esther–Malchut (Redemption, Resurrection): In the final stage of
personal or community or global development, return is made possible
to the source of seed and God alike. Here, the person or world group
reflects all that has come before the final stage in the descent of the
Creator’s presence, the making of the earth person, or the elevated
queen herself. The soul is anointed while in the body, making the body
a vessel capable of reflecting back on the chain of development. All
people who repair themselves and the world of which they are part can
redeem the sparks in the material realm back to their spiritual root,
completing the work, which in Hebrew is called avodah (work, labor).
WHAT THEIR NAMES TELL US
“Let their voices be heard” I was instructed that first night of Sukkot in
2004, when the map of correspondences was shown to me (see map 1, page
27). Using Kabbalah’s gematria (the method of turning letters into numbers
and calculating their value by various procedures) to explore the letters
composing the name of each prophetess allows us to add remarkable insight
to the lives and prophecies of these women. This system of analysis has its
roots in Judaism’s ancient esoteric history and the Hebrew alphabet’s
inherent multiple applications.
The Hebrew language is referred to in Judaism as the holy language, the
Lashon HaKodesh. The belief of the People of the Book is that the Hebrew
alphabet is God’s tool kit for creation. The twenty-two letters of the Hebrew
alphabet (Alef-Bet) are called foundation letters or, in Hebrew, otiot yesod.
From these letters, Kabbalah teaches us that the universe was made and is
sustained. The Book of Formation, or Sefer Yetzirah, one of the oldest
Kabbalistic sources (accredited to the patriarch Abraham himself), says of
the letters, “[W]ith them He depicted all that was formed, and all that would
ever be formed.”28 The Talmud tells us that Betzalel, the builder of the
Tabernacle and great-grandson of the prophetess Miriam, knew “how to
permute the letters with which heaven and earth were made.”29 We also
learn that Adam, who is sometimes called the first Kabbalist, was able to
name all living things because of this similar capacity.
Names are not simply words to identify things. They are a series of holy
letters. The very letters themselves are units of energetic uniqueness
describing the function of each created entity. In Hebrew, each letter is
associated with a common form: Alef is associated with ox, Bet with house,
and so on. These are rudimentary symbols for their natures, and the Alef-
Bet chart (Hebrew Letters and Corresponding Numbers, page 56) supplies
this information, but their deeper and more profound makeup can be
discovered only by studying them directly. Practicing the art of gematria
affords a relationship with the letters, creating a spiritual discipline with
great rewards. One of my teachers, Samuel Ben-Or Avital, suggests a
meditation for twenty-two days on each of the twenty-two letters of the
Alef-Bet. I did this: For twenty-two days I focused attention on Alef, and
then for the next twenty-two days on Bet, and so on until I reached the final
letter, Tav. This amounted to a commitment of 484 days meditating on the
Hebrew alphabet—and such a meditation brings us into rapport with the
letters and enables us to appreciate their interior natures expressed by their
forms.30 They are living letters whose presence affects the nature of every
word. The quality of a word is also affected by where in a word a letter is
positioned. The names that the first man of earth (Adam HaRishon) used in
naming the creatures God had created were based on their hidden purpose
and inner essence, which Adam could discern through prophetic insight.
HEBREW LETTERS AND CORRESPONDING NUMBERS
Though there are twenty-two distinct Hebrew letters, we are taught that
there were only ten instruments of creation and only ten utterances that
created the world.31 This aspect of creation is related to Kabbalah in that it
describes the Tree of Life’s essential nature: a combination of ten qualities
through which all life is made manifest. In Kabbalah these ten vessels
comprise the Etz Chayim, the Tree of Life, a patterned description of
creation that, as we have learned, the world and each individual reflects.
HEBREW LETTERS TELL US ABOUT PROPHECY
Every letter of the 304,805 letters in the Torah is placed for a particular
reason and is in a sequence for a particular purpose. It is inspiring to learn
that originally the Torah was given to Moses orally, without any
punctuation. All the letters of the Torah were in a long, unbroken chain in
much the same way that our own lives are each part of a long unbroken
chain of human development.
The Creator’s holy language of twenty-two letters, the cosmic DNA, is
what made all and what sustains and will make all. It is told in Chassidut
that the Torah was created before the world, meaning that the Torah is the
world’s blueprint. We are also taught that the Jewish people were created to
receive the Torah beginning with Adam and Eve (Adamah and Chava).
When God offered His holy Torah to the world, all the nations rejected it.
Only the Jewish people were willing to say, “We will do and we will listen,”
to which the Creator replied, “Who revealed the Angels’ Secret to my
Children?”32 On the merit of Abraham, the Jewish peoplewere able to
nullify themselves enough to become the guardians of this sacred and
eternal blueprint. Preserving and living these teachings is the fundamental
task and destiny of the People of the Book.
GEMATRIA: FINDING TREASURE AND SPIRITUAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
Gematria’s number system is a Kabbalistic tool for uncovering what is
hidden in the letters of any name or word. Samuel Avital calls gematria
“spiritual archaeology.” After transposing each letter of a Hebrew word into
its number value, there are numerous ways to calculate the letters’
relationships. The method used throughout most of this work is called
mispar hechrachi, and is accomplished by way of simple addition.33 This
classical system of gematria essentially turns letters into numbers and gives
the student a variety of ways to research the meaning of those number
values. This is a traditional method of revealing what is concealed in any
word or sentence of the Torah, the concealed essence of all creation. The
mispar hechrachi is one of the simplest of the gematriatic systems—it is
based on the simple addition of each letter’s value and is akin to a periodic
table in chemistry. It gives us the keys to understanding the concealed
nature of anything on which we focus. Using this method, we can discover
what Adam, Abraham, Betzalel, and other Kabbalists could do naturally:
see the deeper essence of everything. If the Torah describes God’s kingdom
or palace, then the systems of gematria provide some of the keys to the
palace. Kabbalists have been using gematria for centuries to discover
hidden (sod) stories concealed within the more apparent (peshat) narratives
of the Torah.
Gematria works because names are vessels whose letters are qualities of
energy. Each letter in the Alef-Bet is a unit of cosmic energy. The order of
the letters affects what they mean. We will use this basic process of
gematriatic simple addition to unveil each of the prophetesses in the
chapters that follow.
How to Practice Basic Gematria
To practice the technique of gematria and make use of this book most fully,
you will need the following tools:
English–Hebrew dictionary. I use The New Bantam Meggido
Hebrew and English Dictionary (New York: Bantam Books, 1975).
A cipher codebook. A guide such as The Spice of Torah—Gematria
by Gutman Locks (or a computer program that does the same) shows
which words and expressions in the Torah have the same numeric
value and where to find them in the Torah itself.
An English–Hebrew Tanach (the Jewish Torah, Prophets, and
Writings). I use R. Nosson Scherman, ed., Tanach (New York:
Artscroll, Mesorah Publications, 2003).
Here are the steps involved in practicing gematria for a given word or
words.
Step 1. In a Hebrew–English dictionary, look up any English word you
want to study.
Step 2. Write down the Hebrew spelling in Hebrew letters.
Step 3. Look on the chart of Hebrew Letters and Corresponding Numbers
(page 56) to assign the numeric values of each Hebrew letter, and then
add all the numbers together. Example: Sarah = Shin (300) + Reish 
 (200) + Hay (5) = 505
Step 4. Look up the total number (in this example, 505) in the Spice of
Torah—Gematria or a similar cipher codebook. Listed there will be
numerous words and their specific locations in the Torah. Select as
many words as you want, though it’s best to begin with only a few.
Step 5. In the Torah (Tanach), look up the selected words listed as equal
to 505, and then note the situation in which the words or phrases
appear. Example: The words or phrases given for Sarah include gave
(Genesis 5:12), shall you finish it (Genesis 6:16), given (Genesis
38:14), and the wing (Exodus 38:14). We can use these clues to
uncover a deeper story concealed in Sarah’s name by reading the text
around the actual place in the Torah where the words or phrases appear.
This describes the particular process I used in researching the
prophetesses, and it works for studying anything and everything,
“everywhere and everywhen.”34 Here are the number values of each
prophetess’s name. In each of the following chapters devoted to particular
prophetesses, we will explore the details of where some of the
corresponding words are found in the Torah and what they add to our
understanding of the spiritual teachings these seven holy women embodied
and have given to the world.
THE PROPHETESSES AND ALEF-BET GEMATRIA
Here is another example using gematria: The word for “love” in Hebrew
is ahava Alef (1) . Hay (5) Bet (2) Hay (5) = 13. A Hebrew
word for God in Kabbalah is Havaya and is spelled Yod (10) Hay
(5) Vav (6) Hay (5) = 26. It is said that two hearts together are two in
love: (13 +13) = 26 shows us that when we love one another, we experience
the essence of God, which is love. This example shows how gematria is
used as an interpretive art to learn the deeper truths in any subject we wish
to study. This process makes it possible for anyone to investigate anything
in the universe through the lens of the Torah as either a telescope or
microscope.35
Other Words Have the Numeric Values of the Prophetesses
The following lists a number of words that share the numeric value of each
prophetess as defined using the system of gematria outlined above.36
Sarah Shin (300) Reish (200) Hay (5) = 505
Gave, shall you finish it, given, the wing, you shall offer up, trials
Miriam : Mem (40) Reish (200) Yod (10) Mem (40) = 290
Fruit of, your neighbor, fresh corn, bitter, and for a vow, stirs, awakens,
the [red] heifer
Devorah (Deborah): Dalet (4) Bet (2) Vav (6) Reish (200) 
Hay (5) = 217
And have dominion, my errand, my word, the river, by a wind, they shall
rule, and the mountains
Chanah (Hannah): Chet (8) Nun (50) Hay (5) = 63
Prophet, sacrifices, free will offering, nations, as a lioness, we are undone
Avigail (Abigail): Alef (1) Bet (2) Yod (10) Gimel (3) Yod
(10) Lamed (30) = 56
And they knew, and King, your servant, and water, the angel, to your
tents
Chuldah : Chet (8) Lamed (30) Dalet (4) Hay (5) = 47
His/its mother, unto him, to shear, the jubilee, to good, let dip, in the tents
of
Esther : Alef (1) Samech (60) Tav (400) Reish (200) = 661
Shall I be hid, their bones, your word, and you will bring down, the
lamps
SPECIES GEMATRIA
The numeric values of the seven species of the land of Israel can be
determined by gematria, both collectively and separately.
Seven Species (Shevat Ha’minim Shin (300) Bet (2) 
 Ayin (70) Tav (400) = 772; Hay (5) Mem (40) Nun (50) Yod (10) 
 Mem (40) = 145; 772 + 145 = 917
In Deuteronomy 8:6–8:9, Moses reminds B’nai Yisrael that “[y]ou shall
observe the commandments of God, your God, to go in his ways and fear
him, For God, your God, is bringing you to a good Land; a Land with
streams of water, springs and underground water coming forth in valley and
mountain; a Land of wheat, barley, figs, and pomegranate; a Land of oil-
olives and date honey; a Land where you will eat bread without poverty—
you will lack nothing there …”
The seven species represent the fertile and bountiful Eretz Yisrael. Once
settled in Canaan, the Jewish people were commanded to bring their first
fruits (bikkurim) to the priests (the Levites). On Shavuot, the holiday
commemorating the receiving of Torah, which occurs in the spring, forty-
nine days after Passover (Pesach), they carried the first harvest from their
villages to Jerusalem.
As we have seen, the seven sacred species have their counterparts in the
days of the week, the prophetesses, the body parts, and the meanings
attached to the Sefirot in which they find their home. Following is an
explanation of each species as it relates to the People of the Book and the
role of each in ritual Judaism. Also provided is the numeric value of the
name of each species for gematriatic reference. These will allow you to
look in the Torah for other words and phrases of equal value.
wheat (Sarah–Chesed): Chet (8) Tet (9) Hay (5) = 22
Where there is not Torah, there is no Flour.
PIRKEI AVOT 3:21Wheat is a symbol of settled agrarian life and was an export product of
ancient Israel. Wheat is superior to barley and is harvested after it, from
April to June. It requires a great deal of winter rain (equated with Chesed)
for its growth. Wheat is primary in Judaism, in which bread is considered
the staple of life. Not only is it the key ingredient for the daily offerings and
the Sabbath bread, symbolizing manna and mercy, but in its unleavened
state, it composes the Passover (Pesach) matzah, the symbol of the
Israelites’ hardship and God’s deliverance of B’nai Yisrael from Egypt.
Wheat is the main ingredient in most of the daily grain offerings made
during the holidays and afternoon services (mincha). Some offerings are
voluntary and others are obligatory, some are for the individual and some
are for the community. Wheat offerings are mixed with oil and are baked in
ovens, scalded in hot water, or fried in a pan or on a griddle. Parts of the
offering were given to burn on the altar—these were called the chometz and
were often mixed with frankincense, or levonah—while the remainder of
the offering was given to the High Priest (Kohen Gadol) to eat.
barley (Miriam–Gevurah): Shin (300) Ayin (70) Vav (6) 
Reish (200) Hay (5) = 581
Bring before me the Omer Offering on Pesach so that the grain in
the fields will be blessed.
ROSH HASHANAH37
In biblical times, barley bread was a staple of the Jewish people. Later it
was replaced with wheat, and barley became associated with the food of the
poor, suitable as an animal grain. It is the first grain to ripen in the spring
and represents the season of spring itself. In ancient times, barley was
reaped on the second day of Passover (Pesach) and comprised what is
called the Omer offering, which included a quantity of barley to fill three
fingers wrapped around it in a cupped hand.38 The barley was then brought
to the Temple. For forty-nine days between Pesach and Shavuot, individuals
perform the Counting of the Omer.39 The book of Ruth, read on Shavuot,
takes place during the barley harvest. As an offering, it “symbolizes ascent,
mourning, remembrance, spiritual fulfillment, transition and
vulnerability.”40
grapes (Devorah–Tiferet): Ayin (70) Nun (50) Bet (2) Yod
(10) Mem (40) = 172
Your wife shall be as a fruitful vine, in the innermost parts of your
house.
PSALM 128:3
Throughout the ancient world, the grapevines of the Holy Land were highly
prized for their quality and quantity. Grapes remain a vital part of Israel’s
economy. In Genesis 9:20–21, the grapevine is the first cultivated plant
mentioned in connection to Noah. Grapes often represent the fertility of the
land. When the twelve spies returned from Canaan, it took two of them to
carry on a pole a single cluster of grapes. Besides being a symbol of
fertility, the grapes are what elevate all the other foods in a meal when the
blessing (Bracha) on the wine is made. In this way, it is said that the grape
and its wine are a symbol of God’s blessings and our obligation to bless
Him. They are eaten especially on the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, which
celebrates the new agricultural season, the holiday of the first fruits. Grapes
are also hung in the fall in the sukkah (booth or shelter used during Sukkot).
figs (Chanah–Netzach): Tav (400) Alef (1) Nun (50) Hay (5) =
456
The Fig tree has formed its first small figs, ready for ascent to the
Temple. Their vines are in blossom, their fragrance declaring they
are ready for libation, Arise My Love, My fair one and go forth!
SONG OF SONGS 2:13
In both ancient and modern Israel, many homes cultivate at least one fig
tree. They provide ample shade and sweet fruit twice each summer, ripening
in June and August. In Genesis 3:7, the fig is the very first fruit mentioned.
It was fig leaves that Adam and Eve used to cover themselves after eating
of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. The prophet Micah (4:4)
assures us that in the coming messianic age, we will all sit under the vine
and fig tree, and none will be afraid. Figs are also a fruit associated with
love, and in the Song of Songs they are featured as a gift to the beloved.
Like grapes, figs are eaten on the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, symbolizing
peace, redemption, and blessings.
pomegranate (Avigail–Hod): Reish (200) Mem (40) Vav (6) 
Nun (50) = 296
As many as a pomegranate’s seeds are the merits of your
unworthiest within your modest veil. The Queenly offspring of
Abraham …
SONG OF SONGS 6:7
Like the fig, the pomegranate is featured in the Song of Songs as an image
of royalty. The fruit’s outer shape mirrored that of the bells on the robes of
the High Priests. The pomegranate and lilies adorned the tops of the Temple
columns. According to the oral teachings as recorded in Talmud (Hagigah
15b), there are 613 seeds in the pomegranate, symbolizing the divine
commandments (mitzvot) given in Torah. On the Jewish New Year, Rosh
Hashanah, the pomegranate blesses the tables when we pray: “[M]ay my
merits be as numerous as their seeds.”41 The pomegranate sits atop many
Torah scrolls in synagogues worldwide, decorating the ends of the rod or
staff called Etz Chayim (Tree of Life), around which the scrolls are wound.
These finials are known as the rimonim, and most also have small bells
attached to them, reminiscent of a priest’s royal robes fringed by bell-like
pomegranates. Like the grape, the pomegranate was shown to Moses by the
returning spies as a sign of the land of Israel’s (Eretz Yisrael’s) fertility.
olive oil (Chuldah–Yesod): olive = Zayin (7) Yod (10) Tav
(400) = 417; oil = Shin (300) Mem (40) Nun (50) = 390; 417 + 390 =
807
Like the scent of goodly oils is the spreading fame of Your great deeds:
Your very name is Flowing Oil, therefore have nations Loved you.
SONG OF SONGS 1:3
The olive tree can live more than a thousand years, and thus it often stands
for immortality and longevity. As a mainstay in historic and modern-day
Israel’s economy and diet, olive oil is prized worldwide for its great variety
in hue and taste. Olive oil is also valued as the source of our spiritual light,
filling the holy lamps in each synagogue and home. Additionally, it is a
medicinal remedy and culinary foundation used internally and externally. It
was the olive branch that was the sign of dry land in the epochal Noah
story: The bird of peace returned to Noah’s ark with an olive branch in its
beak. Classical writings teach that this olive branch came from the Mount
of Olives above Jerusalem. This may have an important connection to the
two Moshiachs (Messiahs) that the People of the Book expect to usher in a
thousand years of peace.42
The dove’s purpose as a messenger of peace bringing the olive branch is
a sign of the promised redemption. The oil of the olive (tree) is the shine of
the Jewish teachings (Torah) and the hidden essence of Yesod. Like the seed
of man that combines with the woman’s egg to produce life, our willingness
to have faith in the covenant acts as the womb for Moshiach’s existence. We
all draw light from this covenant or this promise as the illumination from
the Creator. The People of the Book are like the olive tree, an evergreen that
survives and flourishes in lessthan-perfect settings. We are all tasked to
refine ourselves, to amplify the light of our souls. The ego, pressed by self-
nullification, is diminished in order to produce our spiritual light just as the
olive is pressed to render oil. When we accomplish this self-refinement, we
add our shine to the world and become more like the Redeemer’s shine,
creating a pull below or a vessel for the Creator’s descent through a
redeemer. Diminishing the ego elevates the soul.
(date) honey (Esther–Malchut): honey = Dalet (4) Bet (2) Shin
(300) = 306
(Date fruit is implied, so is not part of the total of 306 for date honey.)
I am my beloved’s and he longs for my perfection.
SONG OF SONGS 7:11
The righteous shall flourish like the date palm.
PSALMS 92:13
The palm tree’s great height and longevityassociate it with beauty and
fruitfulness. In Exodus 3:8 we learn of the land “flowing with milk and
honey” and that this honey is the syrup made from the fruit of the date palm
tree. Today, dates remain delicacies and an export item from the Holy Land,
and hearts of palm are a Mediterranean specialty used worldwide.
Performing good deeds or coming closer to God is likened to pouring honey
from the fruit of the date palm tree. The tzaddikim, or righteous ones, are
compared to palm trees (Psalm 92:13). On Sukkot, in the Tabernacle of the
Booths, the unopened palm branch known as the lulav forms part of the
four species carried in procession at synagogue and waved symbolically in
the sukkah (booth or shelter). It represents our spine, which must be flexible
and humble. Like the lulav when it is shaken close to the ear, our spirit
sounds like the wings of a bird in flight. So should our love and passion for
doing good elevate us to the heights of the date palm. The palm tree is often
the herald of a sacred oasis in the midst of desert terrain, just as the Torah is
our oasis whose sweet fruit confirms our relationship of love and intimacy
with the Creator.
The Species and the Prophetesses
We have already discussed the correspondence between the species of the
land of Israel and the prophetesses, but these can be examined further
through gematria.
GEMATRIA OF SPECIES AND PROPHETESSES SHEVAT
HA’MINIM B’ERETZ YISRAEL
  Species Prophetess
  Wheat = 22 Sarah = 505
  Barley = 581 Miriam = 290
  Grapes = 172 Devorah = 217
  Figs = 456 Chanah = 63
  Pomegranates = 296 Avigail = 56
  Olive oil = 807 Chuldah = 47
  Date honey = 306 Esther = 661
Map 5 ( Hay): Prophetesses and Species Gematria
HOW THE CHAPTERS ON THE PROPHETESSES ARE
DESIGNED
Now that we have reviewed the basic elements of some classical
Kabbalistic maps and added new correspondences unique to this book, the
majority of the remaining chapters will examine these elements in deeper
detail as we focus on each prophetess.
Each chapter, 3–9, begins with the name and numeric value of the
prophetess, her title, family affiliations, place in history, correspondences,
and other elements important to understanding her. Other elements
presented at the start of each prophetess’s chapter include her associated
holidays, symbols, rituals, prayers, text of prophecy or song, and the shine
of the future that her life reflects. Also, for each prophetess is included her
phase of development; life principle; world action; spiritual action;
meaningful work; day focus; association with a particular species of the
land of Israel; particular texts applicable to her, including prayers and
portions of the Torah; and the teachings concealed in her name using
gematria’s number permutations. In addition, dozens of beautiful teachings
from the People of the Book are woven into each chapter, composing the
wedding dress of the Shechinah, decorated in the gems and pearls of Torah.
The following references are the locations in the Torah for the
prophetesses’ important contributions—their prophecy, prayer, or song,
resulting from the prophetic spirit.
Sarah. Genesis 21:10: “… the son of that slave woman will not inherit
with my son.” Genesis 21:12: “… whatever Sarah tells you, heed her
voice.”
Miriam. Exodus 15:20 (the song of Miriam): “Sing to God for he is
exalted above the arrogant …”
Devorah. Judges 4:4–5:31: “… behold God, the God of Israel has
commanded …” Judges 5:1–31 (the song of Devorah): “When
vengeances are inflicted upon Israel …”
Chanah. Samuel 1, 1:12: “God, Master of Legions …” Samuel 1, 2:1–10
(the song and prayer of Chanah)
Avigail. Samuel 25:23–44: “Let my Lord not set his heart against this
base man …”
Chuldah. Kings 22:11–20: “Thus said God, God of Israel.”
Esther. Megillat Esther 4:16: “Assemble all the Jews … and fast for me
… then I will go in to the king.”
THE BEGINNING OF TORAH
The Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation), mentioned earlier as one of the
earliest Kabbalistic texts, instructs us clearly about the relationship between
creation (beginnings) and endings, telling us that they are forever
connected. As we learned in chapter 1 regarding the Ten Sefirot of
Nothingness: “[T]heir end [is] embedded in their beginning, and their
beginning in their end, like a flame in a burning coal. For the Master is
singular, he has no second, and before one, what do you count?”43 Because
this book is based on what the Torah and Kabbalistic sources teach about
the prophetesses and prophecy, it is relevant for us to examine the
beginning and ending of the Torah, for they are profoundly connected to the
issue of prophecy.
The very first line of the Torah in Genesis begins with the Hebrew word
bereshit (creation), or “created six.” The first sentence of the Torah in
Parshat Bereshit 1:1–15 reads: “In the beginning of God’s creating the
heavens and the earth—when the earth was astonishingly empty, with
darkness upon the surface of the waters—God said ‘Let there be light,’ and
there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated
between the light and the darkness. God called to the light: ‘Day,’ and to the
darkness He called: ‘Night.’ And there was evening and there was morning,
one day.”44
This is how we are told the Creator began His handiwork in making the
world. The same holy Torah ends in Deuteronomy with a description of
Moses’ prophetic stature as the greatest prophet who ever was, is, or will
be. Here, in the final chapter of the Five Books of Moses (Deuteronomy
34:10–12), we read: “Never again has there arisen in Israel a Prophet like
Moses, whom God had known face to face, as evidenced by all the signs
and wonders that God sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against
Pharaoh and all his courtiers and his land, and by all the strong hand and
awesome power that Moses performed before the eyes of all Israel.”
If the Torah is the Creator’s holy blueprint for all of life and living and in
it we find every science and art, why, then, does the Creator’s holy blueprint
begin with creation and end with Moses’ prophecy and a summary of the
miracles of redemption?
THE END OF TORAH
Following the traditional guidance of the Sefer Yetzirah—the end is
embedded in the beginning—we can see that perhaps creation and prophecy
are bound up in each other, one being the beginning of the Torah and the
other its end. Does creation, then, seem to be for the ultimate purpose of
producing a humanity composed of holy prophets? Learning from the
Jewish people’s own journey toward refinement, we wonder if these
prophets will also fulfill God’s plan of perfection. Is the state of prophecy
our natural and divine inheritance, our natural state of being in the world,
albeit a degree less than that of Moses? On an individual level, the guidance
that the end is embedded in the beginning tells us to be mindful of all our
beginnings. Our intentions in performing any action are like seeds being
planted in the material world, watered and tended by our will. The ends,
therefore, are concealed in the beginnings. A fundamental goal of esoteric
Judaism is to understand the material world—why and how things manifest
—as well as to create a better understanding of the relationships between
the material and spiritual realms. We should look at the beginnings and
endings of things, or at least try to estimate the potential outcomes of our
efforts. Ultimately, though, we surrender what comes of our good actions to
God.
If the Torah teaches us that prophecy is the natural outcome of creation
and of the human experience, then the descent of spirit into matter serves as
a training ground for the God-like human. Will humankind’s redemption
herald its resurrection, making the soul and the body eternal? If prophecy
contributes to our redemption, the ending of our exile, our separateness
from the Creator, was the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 the
beginning of the end? Did Esther, like all the other prophetesses, point to
this in prophecy?
BEGINNINGSAND ENDINGS: A KEY TO KABBALAH AND
PROPHECY
Each of our own lives in the physical world begins with the birth of the
physical body and ends with the body’s death, making our beginnings and
endings connected by the living that takes place between them. Our
physical births can be seen as the original exile from the Creator, a
separation that in itself is likened to a form of death. On the other hand,
when the physical body has fulfilled its purpose of acting as a vessel for the
soul’s journey on Earth and it perishes, it is considered a rebirth into the
spiritual domicile. The physical and spiritual worlds are interconnected at
one end of the spectrum, being representative of birth, and at the other, its
polar opposite, being a station of death. As this book suggests, together the
ultimate outcome of such a journey is what the People of the Book refer to
as both immortality and resurrection. This will be discussed further in the
chapters on Chuldah and Esther.
Our bodies and souls are both beginnings and endings, partners through
which God and humankind are united. In the story of the prophetesses,
Sarah begins what Esther completes. What begins in Chesed (Sunday, Seed,
Wheat, Loving-kindness) ends in Malchut (Sabbath, Redemption, Date
Honey, and the Kingdom). Just as life (creation), our beginning, is one kind
of descent, at our death we begin the ascent back up the “ladder of light,”
using the Zohar’s classical term for the Tree of Life (Etz Chayim), to
reunite with the Or En Sof, from which all emanates. In this sense, at the
death of the physical body, we experience prophecy, knowing unity with
God. Prophecy is the death of the ego and redemption is the death of
identifying ourselves as the body. In revelation we can see the beginning of
time by the light of creation reflected from the end.45
With our Kabbalistic treasure maps and sacred Torah in hand, let us join
the seven women of prophecy as they guide us in the seven stages of
development in God’s perfect design, of which we and the world are part.
3
Sarah
Chesed • The Seed of Life Is Love
I will bless her and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples
will rise from her.
GENESIS 17:15
Sarah 
 Shin (300) Reish (200) Hay (5) = 505
Sefirah Correspondence: Chesed
Titles: Matriarch and First Prophetess, Keeper of the First Tent of Holiness
Family: Daughter of Haran, wife of Abraham (Avraham), mother of Isaac
(Yitzchak), grandmother of Jacob (Yaakov)
Time Period Jewish Calendar Gregorian Calendar
Life (birth–death) 1958–2085 1802–1675 BCE
Birth of Isaac 2048 1712 BCE
Developmental Stage: Seed
Day: Sunday
Sacred Species: Wheat
Body Correspondence: Right arm or hand
Rituals: Making challah, Mikvah
Holidays: Rosh Chodesh (New Moon), Rosh Hashanah (New Year)
Symbols: Hovering cloud of glory, tent, Sabbath candles
Prayers: Lighting Sabbath candles, the Akeidat Yitzchak
Shine of Sarah–Chesed: The promise of the conception of Moshiach or the
messianic age
Prophecy Source: Genesis 21:10, “… the son of that slave woman will not
inherit with my son.” Genesis 21:12 “… whatever Sarah tells you, heed
her voice.”
SEFIRAH: CHESED
The first in the constellation of the Sefirot referred to as the emotions, or
middot (in Hebrew), Chesed (Sarah) receives its shine directly from Binah
(understanding) before it on the left pillar and Chochmah (wisdom) above it
on the right pillar. Chesed illuminates Daat, Gevurah, Tiferet, and Netzach
in the descent of the Tree. Representing the right pillar and also called
Chesed, the Sefirah, like the matriarch Sarah, is the first in a dynamic group
of Sefirot.1
Phase of Development: Holy creation begins in love. Anything that is
birthed properly—a child, an idea, an undertaking—should be conceived
with this feeling. Sunday, the beginning of the new week, is illuminated
by Shabbat, making it conducive to selflessness. The seed of life is love.
Life Principle: Sarah teaches us that loving-kindness added to everything
we do is the spiritual root of life. Beginnings guided by selfless intention
bring the greatest reward.
World Action: Sarah as Chesed demonstrates generosity, hospitality, and
kindness as a way of life, including opening our homes to others for
meals and education and opening our hearts to the needs of others.
Spiritual Action: Chesed is a disposition of the heart as unconditional love.
It is the soul being in oneness with all life. In prayer it is a unity with
God that flows from boundless love and awe.
Meaningful Work: The work of Chesed is one of nurturance in service
fields, home care, and family and providing communal well-being.
Day Focus: Perform your day with love invested in your actions. Do a kind
deed for another you know or for a stranger. Teach others through
generosity of spirit.
Species: Wheat is an offering for a person’s elevation and the elevation of
someone’s prayers. Wheat is a species endowed with wisdom
(Chochmah), and it is a food of primary sustenance.
SARAH’S STORY
Note: The bold words in the following section correspond to headings in the
subsequent section called Symbolism of Sarah. This device exists in all
prophetesses’ stories so that the reader can delve deeper into the bold topics
appearing in each initial narrative.
Sarah, the daughter of Haran, lived during the Middle Bronze Age
between 1802 BCE and 1675 BCE and died when she was 127.2 She lived
in Ur Kasdim before becoming Abraham’s (Avraham’s) wife and traveling
toward Canaan. As the first in the progressive descent of the presence of
the Shechinah (the Divine Immanence of the Creator), Sarah reveals how
the seed and vessel of love give birth to an entire nation. She is considered
the matriarch of the People of the Book, just as Abraham is the patriarch.
Her beauty was well known: She is described as one of the most
beautiful women in the world, a woman with vision. Sarah was abducted
twice by foreign rulers and then returned to Abraham unscathed.
Chronicled in her story are both her long ordeal with Hagar, a woman who
was a gift from Egypt’s pharaoh and who became Abraham’s concubine,
and Sarah’s prophecy regarding the fate of Ishmael, the son of Hagar, who,
she determined, would not inherit with Isaac, “this son of mine.”
Tradition teaches that the Shechinah hovered by the door of Sarah’s tent3
and describes Sarah as a guardian and instructor of women. (She converted
and educated the women of the desert and Abraham educated the men.4)
She taught the Israelite women about attachment to God through loving-
kindness (Chesed) and about family purity (niddah) and, as the Zohar tells
us, instructed them in the ritual use of immersion (Mikvah).5 She taught the
Israelite women elements of holiness and keeping Shabbat: She was the
first maker of challah (sacramental bread) and was responsible for the first
lighting of the Sabbath candles, and established generosity as a cornerstone
of Judaism. Under Sarah, the New Moon was observed for the first time as
the timekeeper of the Israelites’ lives.
We are told that her prophecy was greater than that of Abraham. Her tent
was the first communal tent where God visited and the Shechinah rested at
her door—the prelude to the Holy Tabernacle itself. Sarah is the only
matriarchal prophetess and mother of the patriarch Isaac, but she laughed
when God spoke to her directly and told her that she would conceive. After
Isaac was born, the women tested Sarah because they did not believe that
Isaac was her own child. It is said that on the day that Abraham went up the
mountain to sacrifice their son Isaac (the Akeidah), Sarah died. She was
buried in the Cave of Machpelah, the burial place of the matriarchs and
patriarchs. It was selected by Sarah and purchased by Abraham after her
death.
SYMBOLISM OF SARAH
Daughter of Haran
We first meet Sarah as the daughter of Haran and the daughter-in-law of
Terach. Terach was the father of Abraham and Nachor. Nachor’s wife was
Sarah’s sister Milcha. At the beginning of her chronicle, she and her family
depart “fromUr Kasdim (said to be the birthplace of Abraham) to go to the
land of Canaan; they arrive at [a place called] Haran and they settle there.”6
Sarah’s Beauty
Sarah’s name was also Iscah (Yiskah),7 from the word gaze, because she
could see things through divine inspiration and “because all gazed at her
beauty.”8 She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the
world9 and was called both princess10 and chieftainess. According to R.
Isaac, “The beautiful image of Eve was transmitted to the heads of the
generations (some very righteous and prominent women are blessed with
beauty that resembles Eve), but [Sarah] was very beautiful,11 more than the
image of Eve.”12
Sarah and Abraham Go to Canaan
From Ur Kasdim, Sarah, Abraham, Lot (the son of Haran), and all their
households “go to Canaan.” It is here that Abraham is told by God, “To
your offspring I will give this land.”13 They proceed to Beit El and to Ai,
where they make altars to God, and then they continue southward into
Egypt.14
Foreign Rulers and Abduction
Sarah’s dramatic story is set in motion in Canaan. Abraham asks her to
pretend to be his sister while they are in Egypt, explaining that if the
Egyptians think she is his wife, they will kill him and abduct her. As
Abraham predicts, Pharaoh’s men capture Sarah, “and the woman was
taken to Pharaoh’s house.”15 Abraham and Sarah’s trickery works initially,
and the pharaoh “treated Abraham well for her sake.”16 It is said that the
pharaoh does not have conjugal relations with Sarah because God afflicts
his house with a skin disease. The pharaoh then summons Abraham to ask
him why he pretended that Sarah was his sister. Abraham explains his
dilemma, saying their deception was necessary to protect their lives.
Fearing that God’s wrath would escalate, the pharaoh says wisely, “Now,
here is your wife; take her and go.”17
Sarah as Queen and Abduction
Sarah is captured a second time in the kingdom of Avimelech. The king
tries to disguise her by giving her a royal garment (Esther is given such a
garment by the king of Persia almost fifteen hundred years later) to signify
his plans to make her queen. He thinks this will prevent other men from
approaching her and perhaps discovering her true identity.
As on the occasion of her first abduction, Sarah is set free, which
demonstrates her courage, patience, and trust in God, who helps each of us
when we are abducted temporarily by our desires or a situation that is
foreign to us. Both Sarah and Esther elevate the sparks hidden deep within
the kelipot. Both prophetesses, infused with God’s holy radiance, make it
possible to elevate a sitution from evil to good. The story of Sarah is a
parable for each of us. Everything we experience in life is for the
refinement of all creation.
The Shechinah and the Foreign Rulers
The theme of being taken into the foreign ruler’s house is repeated
throughout the Israelites’ numerous exiles and in the life of Esther, the last
prophetess of B’nai Yisrael. Sarah’s and Esther’s identities and marital
status are concealed. The foreign kings (who practice idolatry and self-
worship) attempt to steal the prophetesses of Israel.18 In the stories of both
the first and last prophetesses, the foreign kings (representing the kelipot)
try to capture the Shechinah.
From the abduction of Sarah to the forced marriage of Esther, the plight
of the prophetesses reflects the story of the Shechinah. When society
inhibits the freedom of women or their intuitive natures, the Shechinah and
therefore prophecy are also suppressed. In Kabbalah, this state of
remoteness or separation from God is called geulah, or exile.19
Concealing Identities
When the good inclination (yetzer tov) is abducted by the king of the animal
nature or evil inclination (yetzer hara, the kelipot), infusing us with desires
other than closeness to God, we conceal the light of the soul. When we
become captive to carnal and selfish desires of the body and ego, even
dressed up as beautiful queens, the light of glory is evicted.
Sarah’s first abduction and her second abduction by Avimelech suggest
that when a woman’s identity is hidden, the entire community suffers.
When women are treated improperly, the Shechinah is sent into exile. When
we suppress our intuition (our feminine quality of Binah), our kingdoms
and lives suffer. The consequent geulah (exile) and disharmony between our
left and right ministers or sons can lead to destruction.20 Any desecration of
the holy temple or body comes from an unbridled ego destroying the place
where there occurs the holy union between humankind and divinity.
Arrogance destroys the temple or our own life. Fundamentally, selfishness
is a weapon of destruction.
Hagar
When Sarah and Abraham leave Egypt, they are given Hagar as a gift.
Hagar is a princess, one of Pharaoh’s daughters, who is transformed
overnight into a servant. We can imagine how Hagar feels, being given to
foreigners traveling to a foreign land—no longer a princess but a
maidservant.
Hagar’s debased status (from princess to maidservant) is reflected in the
conception of her offspring: Yishmael, the “wild ass of a man,” the expert
archer. He is a product of a woman acting as a vessel of another woman’s
(Sarah’s) desire for her husband to bear seed. Abraham and Hagar produce
a hunter.
Sarah and Abraham Receive Tithing from the King of Sodom
Next in Sarah’s story are the nine wars of the kings. Sodom is defeated and
Lot is taken captive. Abraham rescues Lot, and the king of Sodom,
Malkizedek (who, according to some, was Noah’s son Shem), blesses
Abraham in Salem (Jerusalem), saying, “Abraham of God the most high,
who has delivered your foes into your hand …” Abraham is then given a
tenth of everything the king owns.21
Sarah Is Barren and Gives Hagar to Abraham
“Now Sarah, Abraham’s wife, had borne him no children,” begins the
section on Sarah’s plight of barrenness. It weighs heavily on Sarah’s heart.
The oral tradition tells us that Sarah “did not have a womb, and the Holy
One, Blessed is He, formed one for her.”22 In addition, “Abraham and Sarah
had undeveloped reproductive systems.”23 It is more than just their age that
makes a miracle of the subsequent conception of Isaac.
Before Sarah conceives, however, she gives Hagar, her maidservant, to
Abraham. Sarah asks Abraham to “consort” with Hagar, and Hagar
conceives a child (Yishmael) and then begins to show Sarah great
disrespect. Sarah condemns Abraham, telling him that it is his fault that
Hagar has grown to have contempt for her, and she asks that “God judge
between me and you!”24 Some rabbis say that Sarah had forty-eight years
taken from her life for this retort.25
Hagar Is Sent Back to Sarah
Eventually, Hagar is expelled from Abraham and Sarah’s family, but after
the first of two separations, Hagar runs away because “Sarai dealt harshly
with her.”26 An angel of God finds Hagar by a spring and asks her, “Where
have you come from and where are you going?” She replies “[I am] running
away from Sarah, my mistress.”27 The angel tells Hagar to return and
submit to Sarah’s domination. In addition, Hagar is told that she will have
many children who will not be “counted for abundance.”28 She will bear a
son to be called Yishmael, “and he will be a wild ass of a man: his hand
against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; and over all his
brothers shall he dwell.”29 The Well of the Living One Appearing to Me is
the name Hagar gives to the place where she has these encounters with the
angels of the Creator. It is located between Kadesh and Bered.30
The Covenant Is Made and Sarai Becomes Sarah
When we remember that Sarah stands for the Sefirah Chesed and the seed
of life as love, it is interesting to note that it is not until Sarah and Hagar are
separated and the Creator’s angels tell Hagar to return that Sarah and
Abraham have their names changed. God then speaks to Abraham and
makes the promise of the covenant: “You shall be a Father of a multitude of
nations … I will ratify My covenant between Me andyou and between your
offspring after you, throughout their generations, as an everlasting
covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.”31
Circumcision is demanded,32 and Abram’s and Sarai’s names are changed to
Abraham and Sarah, each gaining the letter Hay at the end of his or her
name.
Once Hagar is separated and returned by divine intervention and told her
proper place, Sarah can take hers. First, upon her return to Sarah, the angels
demand that Hagar submit to Abraham’s wife, and then Sarah is elevated.
Regarding the name change, God tells Abraham33 “… as for Sarah34 your
wife, do not call her name Sarai. For Sarah is her name. I will bless her;
indeed, I will give you a son through her; I will bless her and she shall give
rise to nations; kings of peoples will rise from her.”35
Hearing this from God, Abraham “throws himself upon his face and
laughs” at the notion that a ninety-nine-year-old man and a barren eighty-
nine-year-old woman could give birth.36 God assures him that Sarah will
have a son to be called Isaac, and that it is to be through Isaac, not
Yishmael, that the everlasting covenant is to be made.37
Sarah Laughs
Abraham does not tell Sarah of God’s visit. She learns of her impending
conception from three angels who visit, posing as men in need of water and
food. Just like Abraham, Sarah laughs out loud when she is told, first by an
angel, that she will bear a son. Sarah denies that she laughed when God
himself confirms that in one year’s time she will bear a son, and although
Abraham is not reprimanded for laughing, Sarah is chastised by the Creator
for doubting His power and His Word. “And Sarah laughed at herself
saying, ‘After I have withered shall I again have delicate skin? And my
husband is old?’ Then God said to Abraham, ‘Why is it that Sarah laughed,
saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, though I have aged?’ Is anything
beyond God? At the appointed time I will return to you at this time next
year, and Sarah will have a Son.’”38
God Speaks to Sarah Directly
God speaks to both Sarah and Abraham and they both hear Him. Of all
seven prophetesses, tradition teaches that Sarah is the only one to whom
God spoke directly, even though the other prophetesses tell, in their songs,
what God said to them.39
Sarah’s role as the only matriarch who is also a prophetess40 shows us
that each subsequent prophetess benefits as the light of her actions descend,
as explained in the discussion of the descent of the light in chapter 2.
Sarah’s life shows us that the Shechinah and prophecy attend those who
possess the attributes of Chesed (loving-kindness) tempered by Gevurah
(the act of expelling Hagar). Creating boundaries is an aspect of a well-
proportioned love.
Conception of Isaac
Sarah conceives Isaac on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.41 This
reflects Chesed’s relationship with conception and the “head” or rosh of the
year. We see this aspect of creation in the way a child is born, entering the
world headfirst. It also gives us clues as to why the holiday Rosh Hashanah
and the monthly festival of the New Moon are represented by Sarah, the
first of the seven prophetesses of Israel.
In God’s great mercy and due to the merit Sarah earns when she
conceives through divine intervention, “many barren women conceived
with her, many deaf became capable of hearing, many blind became capable
of sight, and many madmen became sane at that time.”42 As the recipient of
the additional flow of God’s essence from Keter to Chochmah (or from God
to Abraham to Sarah), Sarah is not the only one to experience greater light.
The increase in Binah, the essence of understanding, affects other women as
well. In her role as a vessel for the descent of the Shechinah, the entire
world receives extra Binah through Sarah. B’nai Yisrael also receives an
extra capacity for understanding and hearing the word of the Creator
(Atzilut, emanation), which makes the women better vessels of conception
(Beriyah, to create). These miracles are attributed to Sarah’s life and
relationship to the Creator. The influx of additional Chochmah (wisdom)
affects sight. Chochmah and sight are related to the realm of emanation
(Atzilut). The additional influx of Binah (understanding) connected to
Beriyah (creation) influences hearing.
These events teach us that everyone is an emanator (one who gives light
to others) and a receiver of light. It is not always what we do for others that
is our gift to them; it is often simply the fact that we are for others. Our
mere presence and regard for others is sometimes the greatest gift we have
to offer others and the world.
The Birth of Isaac
The next time we meet Sarah in the Torah is after she has given birth to
Isaac. “God has made laughter for me; whoever hears will laugh for me.”43
And she adds, “Who is the One who said to Abraham, ‘Sarah would nurse
children’? For I have borne a son in his old age!”44 Sarah’s declaration
precedes the final expulsion of Hagar and Yishmael from the tent of Sarah
and from the People of the Book.
Sarah’s offspring, Isaac, implanted through divine intervention, is a
scholar, whereas her maidservant Hagar’s son is a “wild ass of a man.” The
women’s polarization reflects the future centuries of difficulty between the
Israelites and other communities. Sarah’s initial experience of childlessness
results in the wife (Binah) giving to her husband (Chochmah) another
woman’s body (Malchut) and womb (Yesod); thus Yishmael can be seen not
as the outcome of the emanations of Chochmah and Binah in partnership
(Father, wisdom, with Mother, understanding), but rather as Chochmah
looking for its reflection in Malchut, the Kingdom. It is a contraction
(tzimtzum) of the pathway between Chochmah and Binah, diminishing
Chesed.45 Put simply, Hagar’s conception of Yishmael is initially a
diminishing of Sarah, but it leads to Sarah’s ultimate perfection and
conception of Isaac. So, too, enmity between some of the descendants of
Yishmael and the rest of the world will be for the eventual elevation of
humanity.
Tradition tells us that Sarah notes the negative influence of Yishmael on
Isaac, the future father of B’nai Yisrael. “Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the
Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. So she said to
Abraham, ‘Drive out this slave woman with her son, for the son of that
slave woman shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac!’”46 These are
Sarah’s final words in the Torah and highlight the prophecy of Sarah.
Suppositions about Sarah’s reasoning range from the fact that Hagar and
Yishmael are idol worshippers to the fact that Yishmael practices
homosexuality and eats from animals that are not fully dead, which is
forbidden.
Because God tells Abraham to listen to Sarah, this drama has an element
of the prophetic in it. Sarah and Hagar represent different aspects of life.
Perhaps there is a parallel between the repair (tikkun) of our “inner
Hagar,”our experiences of being diminished by circumstances around us or
by our own yetzer hara, or selfishness, and the elevation of the sparks of
light, which can occur by removing the kelipot encasing them (i.e.,
removing pride and arrogance from our nature). Hagar leaves Sarah and
Abraham twice; the second time leads to her final expulsion with Yishmael.
These two events seem related to the two times Sarah is abducted until her
own final emancipation. Both women experience a loss of station and
freedom, each eventually being put in her proper place by divine
intervention.
The Women Test Sarah
At the time of Isaac’s weaning, Sarah invites to the celebration other
women and their husbands who doubt that Isaac is the son of Sarah and
Abraham. To test Sarah, each woman brings an infant without its wet nurse.
By some miracle, Sarah has enough milk to nurse all of the infants present.
This unusual demonstration proves her status as the true mother of Isaac,
discounting claims that she had stolen the child or bought him in the
marketplace.47
“All the proselytes and the God-fearing people in theworld descended
from those who suckled Sarah’s milk.”48 Chesed is the vessel of the
Creator’s milk from which our progeny will endure. Chesed is a spiritual
state of selflessness, an emanation of Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah
(understanding) integrated with the desire to give.
A mother who breast-feeds her children gives them her love and
protection, creating a spiritual shield for her children beyond the established
health benefits. She endows them with her spiritual attributes. Chesed is an
emanation of love. It is also why the right hand must be used only for acts
of goodness, including the fierceness of self-preservation.
The Akeidah and Sarah’s Death
Our final encounter with Sarah is her death after Abraham’s journey to Mt.
Moriah with Isaac as his intended sacrifice. “After Abraham bound his son
Isaac [on the altar] then Satan came and told Sarah that Abraham had
slaughtered his son Isaac. She cried out in grief and died.”49 Others teach
that Sarah had lived out her full number of years already allocated to her by
God and that if her life was shortened, it was due to the earlier incident
when Sarah said to Abraham, “God judge between me and you!” (Genesis
16:5). Some say that forty-eight years of her life were withheld for that
retort.50 Sarah was eighty-nine years old when she conceived Isaac, ninety
when she gave birth to him, and 127 years old when she died. The binding
of Isaac (the Akeidah) corresponds to the death of Sarah, which makes it a
central element and climax of Sarah’s life. Because it coincides with her
death, and if we see the end as embedded in the beginning, the suggestion is
that her birth was, in part, for the purpose of the Akeidah.
Figure 3.1. Right: Statue of Faith; detail (below) shows the Akeidah. Sculpture by Daniel Kafri,
Abrashah Park, Jaffa, Israel.
Etz Chayim Is Rectified by the Akeidah
The Akeidah, a pivotal historic event in the lives of the People of the Book,
is a receptacle of the future light on Mt. Moriah. The earth is the vessel of
Malchut. Prior to recitation of the Shema prayer each morning, these holy
events are recalled. The Akeidah stands as a merit for all Jewish people and
affirms the eternal covenant, when God replaced Isaac with a living ram.
Mt. Moriah became the Holy of Holies of love grown from sacrifice; it is
the shine of redemption, which comes from a total commitment to God and
the willingness to use everything in our possession for that service. What
Sarah begins in Chesed as the seed of life and the sacrifice of Isaac is
completed by Esther in Malchut and the erection of the Third Temple on
Mt. Moriah.
The Sacrifice of Isaac and Rectifying the Tree of Life
Traditionally, Sarah’s husband, Abraham, is associated with the quality of
Chesed. The Father (Abba) in Kabbalah is Chochmah (wisdom), and the
Kabbalah calls Isaac, the Son in the ancestral family, Zeir Anpin or Tiferet,
implying the other five Sefirot: The Son represents the six middot (Sefirot
Chesed through Yesod) or emotional qualities that all humans are in the
process of developing and refining. This shows us that the Akeidah (the
binding of Isaac) recounted in daily prayers reflects the participation of the
family constellation concealed in the Etz Chayim, the Tree of Life.
Chochmah is wisdom, Father, and Abraham; Binah is understanding,
Mother, and Sarah; Tiferet is Zeir Anpin, Son, and Isaac, which includes
Chesed (loving-kindness), Gevurah (judgment), Tiferet (beauty), Netzach
(eternity, victory), Hod (humility, glory), and Yesod (foundation). The only
one of the Partzufim (members of the divine family) seemingly missing is
Malchut, the Daughter. Yet Malchut is represented by Mt. Moriah, where
the holy act is performed. We can see, then, how the Akeidah could be said
to be a rectification of the entire Etz Chayim—why it is taught that the
prayers that the observant say to commemorate the event are their
rectification (forgiveness of sin). All of the Sefirot of these individuals—
including the Sechol, the upper Sefirot of the intellect—are engaged in an
elevation.
In this way, the Akeidah itself (or the sacrifices any of us make) is a
correction of the Original Sin of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and a
prerectification of the sin of the golden calf—the sin of self-worship—
which occurs during the life of the next prophetess, Miriam. As we will
learn in the next chapter, the women of the Exodus do not take part in
building the golden idol. Just as Sarah is pivotal in the Akediah and as she
precedes the other six prophetesses of Israel and therefore shines on them,
all seven of the prophetesses are in some way connected to the Akeidah.
Like the prophetesses, we each receive from Israel’s first family an
emanation of their faith and love of God revealed at Mt. Moriah.
The Cave of Machpelah
While Sarah was alive, the people of the country were successful
in all their ventures [in her merit]. After she died, [everyone
perceived the magnitude of the loss to such an extent that] they
wept in mourning and distress, until Abraham the Patriarch arose
and spoke soothingly to them.
MIDRASH HAGADOL, BERESHIT 23:3
Seeing far into the future, Sarah selects Machpelah (in Mamre, or
Hebron) as the place where she and the other matriarchs and patriarchs will
be buried. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Leah, Jacob and Rebecca, and, it
is said, Adam and Eve are buried there.51 Sarah, as the first prophetess and
mother of Israel, understood the importance of the burial site as a historical
marker showing future generations that the biblical people existed, that their
stories are true stories that can be known.
R’Benaah [was marking off the precise location of the burial places in
the Cave of Machpelah] when he encountered Abraham’s servant
Eliezer, who was standing before the entrance of the cave, and asked
him, “What is Abraham doing now?” [Eliezer] replied, “he is lying in
Sarah’s arms and she is examining his head” [as she might be doing
when both were still alive], to show that Sarah was the mainstay of
Abraham’s house.52
We are told in Proverbs 31:7, “[S]he envisions a field and buys it.” Sarah
has planned on purchasing the Cave of Machpelah, but Abraham buys the
holy resting place of the Jewish people’s blessed forefathers and -mothers
from Ephron, son of Zohar, after Sarah dies. This is a delightful testimony
that Abraham does in fact do what Sarah tells him to, just as God had
instructed. Whether it is the eviction of the Egyptian Hagar and Abraham’s
son Yishmael or buying Machpelah, Sarah’s extra Binah, her understanding
of the hidden relationships between the spiritual and physical realms, is
elevated enough to guide her husband and the Children of Israel.
We have now briefly reviewed the primary junctures in the Torah where
Sarah’s life is profiled. The oral tradition has built a great wealth of
interpretation around a few paragraphs of actual text in which her life is
mentioned.
GEMATRIA
An Interpretation of Sarah
Sarah’s life reflects the story of the root of creation, the seed of Israel. It is
the story of the first mother of Israel. She embodies the Shechinah in the
first stage of its descent, which might account for some of her hardship
along the way, as she held the emanation of the Creator at a very high level
of Beriyah (creation). Shin, the last of the three mother letters in the
Hebrew language (Alef, Mem, Shin), is the first letter of Sarah’s name and
the first letter in the word Shechinah. A simple rule in gematria is to note
the first letter of a name as we would the head of a person’s body in order to
identify a person’s uniqueness or similarity to others. Sarah is the fire of the
Holy One, his seed in the womb, the fire in water. She merits the hovering
cloud of glory at her tent, Shabbat candles, and holy bread. Her entire life is
a testament to the presence of the Creator’s loving-kindness.
The Akeidah: What Did Sarah Know?
To best understand Sarah and Chesed, let us examine the day of Sarah’s
death, the Akeidah. In Genesis 23:1, the Torah portion(Chesed)
Judgment (Gevurah)
Beauty (Tiferet)
Victory (Netzach)
Majesty (Hod)
Foundation (Yesod)
Kingdom (Malchut)
The prophetesses’ unique qualities and the Sefirot they represent are
revealed through a study of Torah,1 the prophetesses’ Hebrew names, and
other sources. Correspondences we will study include how the Sefirot of
Kabbalah, in addition to their spiritual functions, have accompanying
symbolic body parts in the human being. What we learn about each Sefirah
and prophetess from this perspective can help us in our repair of the world
(tikkun olam) to which all of humanity is assigned. Also connected are the
holy seven species of the land of Israel, which God gave to the Jewish
people (the People of the Book).
The climax of their communal story is the message of our ultimate
redemption and resurrection as designed for us by the Host of Hosts, our
beloved God (HaShem). His love for us and the created world is boundless,
and He showers His mercy upon us. With HaShem’s blessings, we now join
the seven prophetesses of Israel as they show us the way to individual and
communal refinement, harmony, and oneness with God as preserved for us
in the teachings of the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, the People of the
Book. 
CHANUKAH, ROSH CHODESH 30 TISLEV, 5767 
DECEMBER 21, 2006
1
Prophecy and the Prophetesses
The History of Prophecy in Judaism
The lives and teachings of the women of prophecy, the seven prophetesses
of Israel, are rooted in the art and practice of prophecy itself. According to
the classical Jewish writings, prophecy has played an important role in
Judaism historically as a tool for divine revelation and communal guidance.
A person can experience prophecy as a result of great effort and preparation
or by divine selection alone. Prophecy is given to a person or a group of
people only if their generation is deserving of such revelation.
While it is said traditionally that prophecy left the Jewish people with the
destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, texts attest to the fact that
certain levels of prophecy, such as the Ruach HaKodesh, a gift of the Holy
Spirit, “… is attainable by any person, at any time or place as long as the
person makes himself worthy of it.”1 Many sources suggest that prophecy
was a counterbalance to idolatry and that when idolatry ceased, so too did
prophecy.2
Another opinion is that though prophecy of the level during which the
Temple stood ceased after 70 CE, prophecy has never left the Jewish
people. “Any Torah leader whose works have been accepted by all of Israel,
is assumed to have been divinely guided.”3 Prophetic insight continues as
demonstrated through the intellect and soul of a scholar or person living a
devoted Torah-directed life. According to R. Moses Ben Maimon
(Maimonides or the Rambam, 1135–1204 CE), with the exception of Isaiah,
every Jewish prophet in the Bible received his gift through his predecessors
and is part of a long, unbroken chain of prophecy.
In The Guide of the Perplexed, the Rambam explains that God grants the
gift of prophecy only for the sake of His people. Even if an individual is
worthy, prophecy will not be obtained unless his or her generation is also
worthy. The Rambam writes that a prophet must obtain his first prophecy in
Israel before obtaining a vision in other lands, and then only if it is
absolutely necessary for the sake of Israel. Three of the seven prophetesses
—Sarah, Miriam, and Esther—all received their prophecies outside the land
of Israel (Eretz Yisrael) showing important exceptions to this for the sake of
the entire People of the Book.
PROPHECY: SUPREME LANGUAGE OF THE SOUL
Prophecy distinguishes itself from all other arts and intuitive talents. It
delegates to prophets an unequaled status among their peers as the Creator’s
representative. They are found to be of good character, wise judgment, and
merciful hearts and are righteous and diligent in study, teaching, and
practice of their faith.
Prophecy as the supreme language of the soul is a vehicle by which the
Creator instructs His people. Those gifted with prophetic talent are by their
very presence performing the role of teacher and guide to the community,
no matter how quiet or robust their public standing.
The Rambam explains that a prophet’s unusual capacity to hear the word
of God through the various faculties of perception results from the
combination of a strong intellect and a vigorous imagination. Prophecy is
the overflow of the presence of the Holy One to an individual, group, or
nation.4 Required are both the faculty of courage and an aptitude for
divination.
TORAH (TEACHING) IS THE BOOK
Torah, from the root yoreh, “to teach,” is the Hebrew word representing the
Book referred to in the name the People of the Book. Torah is also referred
to as the Law. The Torah can stand for the first five books of the Hebrew
scriptures or the Five Books of Moses, the Pentateuch, or all of the Hebrew
scriptures, made up of twenty-four books. The word Torah refers to the
written and oral teachings of Judaism that were handed down in an
unbroken tradition. “Moses received the Torah from [God who revealed
himself at Mt.] Sinai and conveyed it to Joshua; Joshua [conveyed it] to the
Elders; the Elders [conveyed it] to the Prophets; and the Prophets to the
Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: ‘Be deliberate in
judgment; develop many disciples; and make a protective fence for the
Torah.’”5
Torah gives instructions to us for becoming holy. Chassidut (the
Chassidic movement) teaches that the Torah is the blueprint for Creation
that the Creator authored prior to creating the world and is a guide for
humankind’s refinement. This divine map is contained in the Torah and
understood through the Jewish spiritual science and art of Kabbalah. From
the three-letter root (KBL; Kof, Bet, Lamed), Kabbalah means “a
received tradition.” The rigorous self-discipline it describes for the
individual and the community who receive it can lead to prophecy as the
natural outcome of attendance to God, love of others, and service in the
world in a holy and selfless fashion.
Prophetic visions generally occur in fields and woods, by rivers and
mountains—in places uncontaminated by the general population. Prophecy
is how the divine will and presence are made known to the individual and
the community. It serves as a way for the Creator to instruct and guide the
created to come closer to Him and to help the created discern the
relationships between the seen and unseen, the physical and the immaterial.
Prophecy occurs in different forms and in different intensities. Ultimately,
this holy speaking unites humanity and God. Echad, the Hebrew word for
“oneness,” is the process and the outcome of prophecy.
PROPHECY AND TORAH
“The most usual reason that God sends a Prophet is to admonish the people
to keep the Torah.” Torah is the “foundation of Judaism, without it, Judaism
cannot exist.”6 This explains the saying “The gift of divine guidance is
granted to those who teach Torah publicly, bringing the people closer to
God.”7
Devotion to God and God’s Word (Torah) and dedication to teaching
Torah precipitate the capacity for prophecy.
Inspiration and prophecy are not mere psychological processes in
which the human imagination constitutes the main factor, rather they
are conditions in which man becomes the instrument through which
God exerts His power. They are experiences that are as real as physical
sensation, leaving absolutely no doubt as to their authenticity. True
Prophets were therefore even willing to sacrifice their lives for the
sake of their teachings.8
Prophecy and Torah are inseparable. “It is thus written, ‘this book of
Torah shall not depart from you … and you shall observe everything written
in it, for then you shall have good success (Joshua 1:8).’”9 The accurate
prediction of the future and the ability to speak with and for the Creator are
outcomes of a Torah-devoted life.
The body and prophecy are inseparable, just as the soul of theChayei Sarah (Life
of Sarah) says that we can count thirty-seven years from the day Isaac was
born until his binding on the altar. What does the number 37 reveal in this
context?
In the Jewish prayer book (Siddur), we recount this monumental event as
if we ourselves were the participants in this holy drama of the first family of
B’nai Yisrael. The Arizal (Isaac Luria) teaches that when we recite the
Akeidah prayer, it brings about atonement “to someone who repents
sincerely, for he identifies himself with the two patriarchs who placed
loyalty to God above all other considerations.”53 Sarah also shows her
ultimate faith in God, though this seems to be overlooked by the
commentators in general. She is willing to let her husband and son go up
into the hills together, and given Sarah’s prophetic talents, it is difficult for
us to assume she could see nothing of her husband’s intentions. We are told
for a fact that her prophetic skill is greater than Abraham’s. When we apply
gematria to the age of Sarah at the time of Isaac’s binding, we discover that
she may have seen clearly the events to come, including her own death.
127 and 37: Parshat Chayei Sarah
Using the method of gematria described in chapter 2 (mispar hechrachi), we
can investigate the numbers 127 (the length of Sarah’s life) and 37 (the age
of Isaac at the time of Sarah’s death and the Akeidah).
In Chayei Sarah (Genesis, chapters 23–25), the portion of the Torah
named in Sarah’s memory, she is commemorated by her death rather than
by her birth. It begins: “Sarah’s lifetime was one hundred years, twenty
years, and seven years; the years of Sarah’s life.” The end of her life is
embedded in the beginning. Her death becomes a statement of her living
legacy.54 The Hebrew words that begin the chapter named for Sarah in
Torah, And the life, add up to the number 37:
And the life (Genesis 32:1, Zohar 1:123a): Vav (6) Yod (10) Hay
(5) Yod (10) Vav (6) = 37
The last thirty-seven years of Sarah’s life are also the first thirty-seven
years of Isaac’s life up until the Akeidah. It seems that all the preceding
years are in preparation for these thirty-seven years.55 We are told by the
sages (Chazal) that Sarah’s twenty-five years of barrenness with Abraham
and her ordeal with Hagar were God’s way of purifying her nature to ready
her as the holy matriarch and the only matriarchal prophetess of the Jewish
people.56
127: Reflections Elsewhere in the Torah
And he offered him up (Genesis 22:13): Vav (6) Yod (10) Ayin
(70) Lamed (30) Hay (5) Vav (6) = 127
As we have seen, the Akeidah is central to Sarah’s life. The phrase And
he offered him up refers to this monumental moment in the Torah when
Abraham offers Isaac as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. Isaac agrees willingly to
be sacrificed to God once he realizes his father’s intentions. And he offered
him up in Hebrew is equal to the numeric value 127. This astounding
correlation between Sarah’s length of life and the action of the Akeidah
means that Sarah’s lifetime carried within it the destiny of this act by which
B’nai Yisrael merited being “lifted out of Egypt” by the strong hand of God
—God’s right hand, Chesed. We can see why God tells Abraham that Sarah
will give rise to nations and that nations of kings will be born from her.
The Akeidah is reflected in every aliyah—in the synagogue, going up to
the Bimah to read the Torah, or a return to the land of Israel, both types of
spiritual elevation—which draws vitality from this seminal act on Mt.
Moriah.57 Prayer offerings take the place of the actual Temple rituals,
animating their spiritual origin. Words of prayer become vital enactments of
holy processes.
Sarah’s spiritual purpose and the Shechinah’s first stage of descent are
hidden in the first line in the Torah portion called by her name. Sarah’s
beginning and ending of life and the number of years of her life, 127, are
fulfilled in the Akeidah. That Sarah may have foreseen what was to come
seems highly probable given the keys provided by the Torah and gematria
in addition to her prophetic gaze. This is why we can say with confidence
that the Akediah reflects the sacrifice of Abraham, Isaac, and Sarah.
It is noteworthy that the other right-pillar prophetess Chanah offers her
son Samuel to the priesthood. Both prophetesses—mothers—surrender their
sons to the service of God.
There are a few more words in the Torah equal to the number value 127,
the number of years of Sarah’s life, revealing the illumination or the shine
that comes from Chesed and the first prophetess of Israel, upon whom
God’s Divine Immanence rested:
the kindness (Genesis 32:11): Hay (5) Chet (8) Samech (60) 
 Dalet (4) Yod (10) Mem (40) = 127
Jacob says to God, “I have been diminished by all the kindness and by all
the truth that You have done Your servant.” Then he pleads to be rescued
from the wrath of Esau (his brother). Having crossed the Jordan, he says,
“[N]ow I have two camps,” or, in other words, how can I bring peace
between these two aspects of my family? The pairs of brothers and family
divisions in many of these situations represent how each individual
beseeches God for peace between the divine soul and the animal soul,
between physical needs and spiritual needs.
upon Your Face (Genesis 48:12): Lamed (30) Alef (1) Pey
(80) Yod (10) Vav (6) = 127
Joseph (and his offspring) is seen by his father, Israel (Jacob), for the first
time in twenty-two years and Jacob says, “I dared not accept the thought
that I would see your face [upon your face], and here God has shown me
even your offspring.” Equal to the value of Sarah’s length of life, the
moment highlights the power of Chesed in hurdling even the greatest
obstacles. As the matriarch of these families, Sarah radiates the effluence of
God’s loving-kindness, engendering eventual repair of the branches of her
tree. This is the hallmark of the first Sefirot of the middot called Chesed and
of the life of Sarah. She is the optimal epitome of loving-kindness balanced
by discernment (Gevurah, judgment), fitting for the birth of a holy nation.58
Sarah (Chesed) and Esther (Malchut) Are Related through 127
The beginning of Israel’s existence in Sarah (Chesed) is fulfilled in Queen
Esther (Malchut), the final Sefirah of the Etz Chayim. Applying the guide
of Sefer Yetzirah (the Book of Formation, attributed to Abraham)—the end
is embedded in the beginning—we discover many relationships between
Sarah and Esther. Sarah lived 127 years and Esther ruled over 127 nations.59
As Kabbalah teaches, the light descends from one Sefirah to another,
leaving some of its presence in those below as it descends. Chesed (Sarah)
is seen in Malchut (Esther). Sarah, Abraham, and Isaac show total faith in
God, which is echoed in the life of Esther. Together, Chesed of Malchut
represents the promise of redemption and the building of the Third Temple
during the prophesied messianic age, the final outcome of the Akeidah.
37: Reflections in the Torah
Continuing this deeper examination of the Akeidah, we can find words and
expressions that have the numeric value of 37, the age of Isaac at the time
of Sarah’s death: Lamed (30) + Zayin (7)
and they became (Genesis 2:25): Vav (6) Yod (10) Hay (5) Yod
(10) Vav (6) = 37
We learn about the unity of Sarah and Abraham in this phrase. The
phrase and they became refers to Adam (Adamah, Adam HaRishon, Adam
the first man) and Eve’s (Chava’s) first awareness of each other after the
creation of Eve. We are told “that they were both [and they became] naked,
and they were not ashamed.” In this way, we also see the unity between
Sarah and Abraham: In being aware of each other’s entire natures, they still
do not view themselves as separate from each other. In union we experience
a wholeness and closeness to God.
Abel (Genesis 4:2): Hay (5) Bet (2) Lamed (30) = 37
In the story of Abel, the conflict of two is resolved through Chesed. “And
additionally she bore his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd and Cain
became a tillerof the ground.” Highlighted here is the pattern for conflict
between brothers (nations) and between the animal soul and the divine soul
in the individual.
In the Torah there are several conflicts between brothers, notably
between Cain and Abel, between Yishmael and Isaac, and between Jacob
and Esau. Through them we learn the challenge of overcoming polarization
and making harmony from variation, as the kind that exists in the
relationship between Cain and Abel. The firstborn (Cain) is a tiller of the
earth, suggesting a lower spiritual station (Asiyah)—working with the
mineral and plant kingdoms. His younger brother, Abel, is a shepherd who
gathers and leads the animal kingdom (Yetzirah). The fact that the elder
brother in each of these pairs (Cain, Yishmael, and Esau) represents the
physical world of Asiyah, where physical action takes place, suggests that
we must be cognizant in prophecy of the various worlds. Abel, Isaac, and
Jacob stand above this plane of action, engaged in the worlds of formation
(Yetzirah). While one in each relationship works on refining the physical
world, the other is dedicated to the spiritual worlds taking shape in the lives
of those around him. Both are necessary for the repair of the individual and
the world.
great (Genesis 26:13): Gimel (3) Dalet (4) Lamed (30) = 37
“The man (Isaac) became great and kept becoming greater until he was
very great.” Sarah’s son, Isaac, becomes a model of greatness. He has a
quality of refinement that is a beacon of leadership for the community.
Greatness (gadlut) is a measure of the light we contain and emanate, and
thus Sarah’s son is a great beacon for all generations. His desire to share in
the Akediah teaches us about closeness and faith in God. With Chesed as
emanator, when we show great faith, we are rewarded with great
emanations from the Creator above.
Later, in Deuteronomy 26:8, we read, “God took us out of Egypt with a
strong hand and with an outstretched arm, with great awesomeness, and
with signs and wonders.” It is this important act that underpins the holy
celebration of Pesach—a holiday associated with the next prophetess,
Miriam. It is an act remembered in our prayers every day of the week and
on every Sabbath. God is the conductor of our enslavement and our
emancipation, and Sarah is rescued by the strong arm or hand of God,
which the Sefirah of Chesed represents.
And El (And God, Genesis 28:3): Vav (6) Alef (1) Lamed (30) =
37 
“And may El Shaddai [And God] bless you, make you fruitful and make
syou numerous, and make you be a congregation of peoples.” This is
Isaac’s blessing of his son Jacob, Sarah and Abraham’s grandson. Here, it
becomes clear that when God blesses Sarah with Isaac, God’s promise to
Abraham is fulfilled: He will father a nation of people as numerous as the
stars.
Benefited (Exodus 1:20): Vav (6) Yod (10) Yod (10) Tet (9) 
Bet (2) = 37
In the next Torah portion related to the age of Isaac at the Akeidah, God
ensures proliferation of His chosen people. “God benefited the midwives”
refers to the population increase of B’nai Yisrael when the midwives
facilitate all births, even when the pharaoh orders them to kill B’nai
Yisrael’s newborn sons. The seed of Sarah, the seed of creation, is
preserved and proliferated. Chesed, the seed of Creation, shows us that
what is conceived in love has the capacity for regeneration.
they gazed (beheld, Exodus 24:11): Vav (6) Yod (10) Chet (8) Zayin
(7) Vav (6) = 37
The presence of the Shechinah is reflected in the phrase And they gazed.
Moses, Aaron, Nadav, Avihu, and seventy elders ascend Mt. Sinai. “They
saw the God of Israel and under his feet was the likeness of sapphire
brickwork, and it was like the essence of the heaven in purity” (Exodus
24:10). “Against the great men of the Children of Israel, He did not stretch
out His hand, they gazed at God, yet they ate and drank” (Exodus 24:11).
Sarah’s refinement is what allows God to speak to her directly and why
she merits the hovering cloud of glory and the holy light in her tent from
Sabbath to Sabbath. Just as visitors and householders can be in the
immanence of God in her tent (ohel) and eat and drink, so too can Moses
and the elders see the Creator’s immanence and still carry on with
strengthening the physical vessels occupied by their souls. This level of
refinement makes it possible to be in the presence of the Shechinah while
remaining in possession of our body. Our will and faculties reflect a high
level of prophecy. Also, we know that Sarah’s name, Yiskah (or Iscah,
meaning to watch or gaze), is related to her prophetic vision.
banner (flag, Numbers 2:3): Dalet (4) Gimel (3) Lamed (30) =
37
“Those who encamp to the front, at the east, shall be the banner of the
camp of Judah according to their legions.” The east is the direction of the
holy city of Jerusalem, signifying its leadership and the tribe of Judah.
Because Sarah is the leader of her people and initiates teaching the women
of early Jewish practices, her life is a banner for B’nai Yisrael.
505: The Numeric Value of Sarah’s Name
Sarah Shin (300) Reish (200) Hay (5) = 505
God tells Abraham, “Do not call her Sarai, Sarah is her name” (Genesis
17:15), signifying an elevation in refinement. Sarah’s body is the vessel
from which the generations of Jewish people originate. Chesed is a vessel
of life and regeneration. Through Chesed, reunion is made possible and
closeness with God is achieved. By examining who is speaking in each of
the following portions of the Torah, what they are speaking about, and to
whom they are speaking, we see a dramatic revelation about Chesed and
Sarah. This proves the power of names, the significance of name changes,
and why naming children is a holy undertaking.
shall you finish it (it = the Ark and Chesed, Genesis 6:16): Tav
(400) Caf (20) Lamed (30) Nun (50) Hay (5) = 505
Noah is told by God to complete the window in the Ark: “to a cubit [shall
you] finish it from above.” The window is a portal of sight, suggesting the
realm of emanation (Atzilut). The Ark ensures the survival of human-kind
and general living things, much like the womb of Sarah conceals the future
generations of B’nai Yisrael. When we seek shelter in the Ark (Torah), we
are assured a safe view and a sustaining higher vision.
your land (the land to grow on, Genesis 47:23): Alef (1) Dalet
(4) Mem (40) Tav (400) Caf (20) Mem (40) = 505
Sarah’s grandson Joseph speaks to the Israelites: “Look, I have acquired
you this day with your land for Pharaoh; here is seed for you, sow the land.”
Joseph negotiates that all the land of Egypt be sold to the pharaoh, except
for that of the Egyptian priests. He also negotiates that one fifth of the
harvest will go to the pharaoh and four fifths will go to the sharecroppers.
Here, the land becomes the general vessel for life and the theme of planting
seeds is reiterated, as represented by Sarah’s life and the purpose of Chesed
as the seed of God’s love.
Southward (Southside, Exodus 26:18): Tav (400) Yod (10) 
Mem (40) Nun (50) Hay (5) = 505
God speaks to Moses about making the Tabernacle: “You shall make
planks for the Tabernacle; twenty planks for the Southside.” The Tabernacle
is another vessel or dwelling place of the Shechinah. Sarah’s name shares
this attribute with these other vessels for holy life: the Ark, the land, and the
Tabernacle.
priesthood (Exodus 40:15): Lamed (30) Caf (20) Hay (5) 
Nun (50) Tav (400) = 505
God speaks to Moses about creating B’nai Yisrael’s priesthood and
introduces the concept of an eternal bloodline with particular obligations:
“you shall anoint them as you had anointed their Father, and they shall
minister to me, and so it shall be that their anointment shall be for them an
eternal priesthood for their generations.”
The appointment of Aaron’s sons as priests is the act of God making a
covenant with them as he does with Sarah and Abraham. Flowing from
Chesed, the covenant is the Creator’s endowment to these people,enabling
their performance of holy acts for the community. The priest-hood is
Chesed balanced by Chochmah (wisdom), Binah (understanding), and
Gevurah (judgment). Laws different from those ruling the conduct of other
men and women rule the kohanim (priests) and the Kohen Gadol (High
Priest). Through this law, which is more stringent and involves more
limitations, we see that when Chesed is balanced by proportioned limitation
(Gevurah), the holy blessings of the Creator have a vessel in which to
reside.
their iniquities (sins, Leviticus 16:21–22): Pey (80) Shin (300) 
 Ayin (70) Yod (10) Hay (5) Mem (40) = 505
Just prior to the first erection of the Tabernacle, God speaks to Moses:
“Aaron shall lean his two hands upon the head of the living he-goat and
confess upon it all the iniquities of the Children of Israel, and all their
rebellious sins among all their sins, and place them upon the head of the he-
goat, and send it with a designated man to the desert. Then the he-goat will
bear upon itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he should
send the he-goat to the desert.”
The confession of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) for the people’s sins
acts as a national confession. The scapegoat acts as the vessel effecting the
community’s atonement. By sending the he-goat into the desert, all of
Israel’s sins are forgiven. This he-goat reflects the offering of Isaac by
Abraham and Sarah as the sacrificial gift to God from which we derive an
emanation whenever we recite the Akeidah prayer. This communal sacrifice
on Yom Kippur and its recitation in prayer invigorates the shine of the Third
Temple to be built on Mt. Moriah. Once again, we see an element of Sarah’s
personal history concealed in her name itself.
test (trials, Deuteronomy 7:19): Hay (5) Mem (40) Samech (60)
 Tav (400) = 505
Moses recounts the miracles God did for Israel: “The great test [trials]
that your eyes saw, and the signs, the wonders, the strong hand and the
outstretched arm, God your God took you out—so shall God your God do
to all the peoples before whom you fear.” We see the reiteration of Chesed
as the outstretched arm of God.
The Words of Sarah’s Inner Story in the Torah
Sarah’s inner story, concealed in words and expressions equal to the
numeric value of her name, revolves around the instruments through which
God preserves life and makes himself present. We find 505 reflected in the
Ark after the Flood; in the appointment of Aaron’s sons; in the Tabernacle
that accompanied them throughout their wanderings—a precedent to the
Beit Hamikdash;60 and in individual and communal atonement, just as
Sarah’s tent was personal and communal.
The promise of emancipation and the shine from the promise of the Third
Temple on Mt. Moriah are concealed in Sarah’s life story. Sarah as teacher
of the women merits the miracles of the hovering cloud, the eternal lamp,
the perfect dough for making challah out of wheat, birth for all women,
hearing the angels speak, hearing God speak, and seeing and selecting the
burial place of the matriarchs and patriarchs. Her tent precedes the
Tabernacle, showing us how Chesed in our lives is the quality of God’s
presence represented by the nurturing wife–mother– grandmother of the
patriarchs. Sarah reveals how Chesed exists in the world and in our lives.
72: The Numeric Value of Chesed
Chesed Chet (8) Samech (60) Dalet (4) = 72
In this chapter’s final look through the lens of gematria, we find several
expressions linked to the numeric value of Chesed, or 72. There are several
examples to explore more fully.
their heart (Genesis 42:28): Lamed (30) Bet (2) Mem (40) = 72
Your son (Exodus 10:2): Bet (2) Nun (50) Caf (20) = 72 to his
tent (Leviticus 14:8): Lamed (30) Alef (1) Hay (5) Lamed
(30) Vav (6) = 72
The words in these examples show us a key commonality among the stories
of Sarah’s tent, son, and heart. Also interesting to note is that there are
seventy-two names of the Creator, suggesting that all of his attributes derive
from love.
THE TRADITIONS SARAH ORIGINATED
Now that we have examined the hidden mysteries of Sarah’s life and
purpose, let us close by looking breifly at the traditions that, according to
the Torah, originated with Sarah.
Sarah’s Tent: The First Sanctuary
Sarah’s tent (ohel) is the precedent for the Tent of Meeting and for the
Tabernacle as the Holy of Holies, reflecting the light of the Or En Sof (the
endless light) of Keter. Keter is the crown and source (emanation) of all life
—Atzilut. Using vessels as the recipients and distributors of the Holy
Spirit’s life force, we bring down the light into the action of the physical
kingdom (Malchut, Asiyah).
Sarah is the first holder of the holy lamp. In Sarah’s ohel, a lamp burns
from Sabbath to Sabbath, making her tent the first sanctuary. Sarah is the
first holder of the eternal flame now prominent in every Jewish synagogue
in the world. It is her flame that precedes the flame that remained lit while
the First and Second Temples stood. As a symbol for Chesed, the unlimited
light suggests the presence of the Shechinah. Sarah’s tent, like those of the
Israelites after the tenth plague in Egypt, is always full of light, while the
Egyptian tents are shrouded in darkness.
During Sarah’s life, the divine presence hovers in the form of a cloud at
the entrance to her tent, just as the hovering cloud exists on the merit of
Aaron, Miriam’s younger brother, during the Exodus. We are taught that
when Sarah dies, all these miracles cease until Rebecca, Sarah’s daughter-
in-law, arrives as Isaac’s wife. Through Sarah and the other primary women
in the tent (the other matriarchs as told in Judges 5:24), along with Rebecca,
Rachel, and Leah, we are shown the place of God’s meeting even before
Moses was born. God’s Divine Immanence or Shechinah was present in the
women’s tent.
In addition, with the monthly observance of the New Moon—Rosh
Chodesh—the new (head) of the month begins with Sarah and the women
of her time. It is a beautiful image to regard the seven prophetesses as the
holy women of the New Moon. The moon, representing Malchut and the
Shechinah fully embodied in the world, will one day be equal to the sun.
There will be two great lights in the sky.
Diminishing for an Eventual Aliyah
This beautiful teaching, presented in more detail in chapter 10, is the
cosmic story of humanity’s diminishment, like Sarah’s initial diminishment,
for the sake of a greater elevation (aliyah, “going up”). We see this again in
the lives of Miriam, Chanah, and Esther—and we have likely experienced
this in our own lives.
In Ashlagian Kabbalah, an initial diminishment for an eventual elevation
is a process of refinement. We see this holy pattern in the origins of
humankind’s epic biblical story. After the sin of eating from the Tree of
Knowledge, all of humanity took part in being diminished. No longer would
everything be easily provided; we must work for our daily sustenance.
Rather than having, by the gift of God, an eternal body as a companion to
the eternal soul, we have acquired this garment of the soul, built as it is on
the thought, speech, and action of each person’s free will.
The epic journey of humanity is to restore eternal life to the body, the
vessel of the soul. By the merit of every person’s love of the Creator and
attachment to the process of elevating everything in life to its greatest
potential through proper self-management according to Kabbalah, this is
what is the outcome of living a Torah-centered life. The People of the Book
are to walk the middle path, the middle of the Tree of Life, showing others
a way for completing our purpose as God-like human beings. Each Sefirah
makes this possible. Each prophetess reflects the components we are made
of and also reflects the world’s composition.
Sarah’s Sabbath Obligations
Being familiar now with the essence of Chesed, let us look at the Jewish
woman’s Sabbath obligations. These rituals, like prayers, are spiritual tools
for building a holy life.Performing them creates a vessel filled with the
presence of the Shechinah. When a woman performs her Sabbath rituals in
joy, she reflects Chesed’s capacity for loving-kindness and mercy, the
ultimtate barometer for justice and goodness in the family and community.
These qualities are embodied through the holy candles and the Sabbath
bread.
Chesed is the first gate of self-refinement—loving-kindness mixed with
wisdom (Chochmah), understanding (Binah), and knowledge (Daat).
Loving-kindness makes the woman “like” the Creator—an emanator—even
though her general purpose is as a vessel (kelim), if we distinguish between
the light (emanator, or) and vessel (receiver, kelim).
The Sabbath candles. Lighting the Sabbath candles can be compared to
lighting the flame of love in our heart or in the ohel, the Tent of Meeting in
the body. Sarah’s holy lamp, which remains lit from Sabbath to Sabbath,
adds to the world’s shine of the heart. As it is said in Chassidut, the body is
the wick and the soul the oil that is lit, and it is the heart that fans that fire.
The light in us and on the Sabbath table represents the eternal covenant
between God and His created beings. The two lit candles tell us of the
inherent equality between the sun and the moon, which we will examine in
detail in the sections on Esther and the Shechinah (chapters 9 and 10). The
Sabbath candles represent the primary teaching that we should remember
(zachor) and guard (shomer) and perform Shabbat. The flames stand for the
Shechinah, whose presence is above and below, and thus we are shown that
peace (shalom) comes from the proper balance of two elements, such as
Chochmah and Binah, Chesed and Gevurah, Netzach and Hod. The two
candles reflect the combined light of each pillar, bringing the presence of
God’s completeness into every home and heart. At the close of Sabbath, a
three-wick candle is lit with the accompanying Havdalah prayer of
Gevurah, separating the holy from the secular but also, as Sarah shows us,
elevating the secular to its holy purpose. This is the middle path—when the
pillars of the Etz Chayim are combined in balance in our life journey.
The song of wheat and the importance of challah. The Perek Shira, the
Song of the Universe mentioned in chapter 2, adds another confirmation of
Sarah’s role in the Sefirah of Chesed. According to Psalms 130:1, “A Song
of ascents. From the Depths I called you, God.”61
The Arizal (R. Isaac Luria) equates Chesed with the species of wheat,
and the Ramak (R. Moshe Cordovero) places the prophetess Sarah in the
Sefirah of Chesed. Both of these teachings are reflected here, as we have
explored. Sarah’s home or tent (ohel) is always open to strangers. It is
taught that Sarah’s dough (wheat) for the Sabbath, challah (sacramental
loaves), is blessed. Regardless of the number of guests, she never lacks
dough for bread. With wheat in the Sefirah of Chesed and the grain used to
make challah, Chochmah—the Sefirah of wisdom above Chesed on the
right pillar—flows directly into Chesed. The ritual bread is a product of
wisdom, and the challah dough of Sarah is the precedent for the miracle of
manna, which feeds B’nai Yisrael in the desert during their forty years in
the wilderness after their emancipation from Egypt. It is interesting that this
very sequence of challah becoming manna and then matzah (unleavened
bread, the bread of Gevurah) is represented in the story of the second
prophetess of Israel, Miriam.
The Sabbath bread reminds us that manna is not just a physical food, a
gift God bestows on the wandering Israelites, but is an overflow of
Chochmah (wisdom) to Chesed (loving-kindness). Manna is the light of the
Creator manifested as created sustenance. It does not grow from the earth,
but rather is showered downward from heaven. It is created as Chochmah in
the realm of Atzilut as God’s merciful food—the limitless light as root—
and as Chesed in the realm of Beriyah, or creation. The two loaves of
sacramental bread blessed at the Sabbath table represent the double portion
of manna the Israelites collect the day before Shabbat. Acts of loving-
kindness, or perfecting our Chesed, result in a double portion of good
fortune.
Making challah for sacramental loaves teaches us how to prepare
ourselves as an offering to the Creator. We are to plant the grains (seeds) of
Torah in our lives, to work our lives toward self-refinement, turning over
the ego, digging deeply, and praying for rain (God’s merciful love) in its
proper time. We are to harvest what we produce by separating the wheat
from the chaff in ourselves. We are to mix it with oil (soul pressings) or
water (Torah) with kneading actions (refining work with our hands). In the
same way that we make bread, we are to shape our lives. Binah, the Mother
(Imma) and the root of mercy (rachamim),62 flows to Chesed and receives
endowment from Chochmah (Father, Abba), wisdom.
Sarah’s challah as an eternal shine from Chesed is reflected as the loaves
shared during the Sabbath that the High Priests consecrated when the
Temples stood. The loaves of bread made for Shabbat by the women of the
community are divine representations of loving-kindness from the Creator
and represent manna. That Sarah’s dough is endless shows the presence of
the Shechinah, that which creates unlimited bounty, the flowing of Chesed
from Binah (understanding) and Chochmah (wisdom), the efforts of both
the Mother and Father of the Etz Chayim combined to feed their children
(lower middot).
Wheat requires that we separate the chaff from the grain in the same way
that we are to remove from ourselves what is coarse and unrefined in order
to reveal the grain of truth implanted in each one of us. The Temple rituals
during the time period of prophecy included wheat offerings as part of the
daily meal offering. These showbreads were made from wheat, both in the
Temple and, since that time, on our Sabbath tables. If not properly balanced
by other foods, such as barley (Gevurah), grapes (Tiferet), figs (Netzach),
pomegranates (Hod), olive oil (Yesod), and date honey (Malchut), wheat
can lead us to feel too expanded or ungrounded. Eating wheat abundantly
without the other species and their vitalities can lead to illness, just as
Chesed without boundaries can lead to an expansion beyond our borders—
in other words, to sins such as gluttony, jealousy, and incest.
Sarah (Chesed) Corresponds to the Right Hand
As we saw earlier, in the numeric value of Sarah’s name (505) there is a
direct value pertaining to Chesed as God’s strong right arm and hand.
Because most people are right-handed, we equate the right hand with the
hand of action, with the hand that initiates what we do.
Chesed also represents God’s mercy and the strong hand or strong arm
that takes us out of captivity, one of the expressions concealed in the
numeric value of Sarah’s name. Because mouth, hands, and feet are
considered in Chassidut to be the body’s ministers, this correspondence
instructs us to rely on loving-kindness in all that we do. In our prayers, the
right hand is represented by the name Adonai, a name of loving adornment,
and the left hand (Gevurah) is designated Elokim, or judgment and
rectification of error. In our lives, Chesed signifies engaging the world with
a charitable heart.
The oral tradition teaches that when we are lost, we should turn to the
right. When we are in doubt about how to behave, turn toward Chesed: Do
what is most generous given the situation. It is a navigation tool for living.
SUMMARIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF SARAH
We learn from the miracles attending Sarah—the eternal light, the challah
dough, the New Moon blessings, the hovering cloud, the birth of Isaac, the
participation in the Akeidah, and more—that prophets and prophetesses do
not simply tell others what God has said. Their very presence in the
community changes it and contributes to its refinement. Their lifetime
dramas and accomplishments are part of their roles as seers and leaders.
Sarah’s marriage, her ordeals of being abducted,teaching women,
overseeing the ritual bath for women, talking with the angels and God, the
birth and willing sacrifice of her son—all of these elements in her personal
life became the events through which the community related to her. The
women of prophecy had a deep involvement in the community’s welfare
both spiritually and physically.
We find that Sarah’s presence, along with that of Abraham and Isaac,
plays a role beyond her lifetime, guiding us toward the messianic days we
are approaching. It shows us the importance of Chesed in the world. In
Baba Metzia, a tractate from the Talmud, we learn of an incident involving
R. Yehudah Hanasi: It is said that Elijah would often appear at his school
and place of study (yeshiva) and that one day, on Rosh Chodesh, the New
Moon, the first day of the new month:
Rabbi waited for Elijah, but he did not appear. [When he did come]
Rabbi asked him, “Why did you not come until now?” Elijah replied,
“[I was busy.] I had to wake up Abraham, wash his hands, allow him
to pray, and he would have to go to sleep afterward. I had to do the
same for Isaac and again for Jacob.” Questioned Rabbi, “Why not
wake them all up at the same time?” Replied Elijah, “if they all prayed
simultaneously, they would inject so much mercy into the world that
Moshiach would come before his time. That is why I am not allowed
to wake them up at the same time.”63
Through our prayers, God’s mercy and judgment, sweetened by Chesed,
will bring Moshiach at the appropriate time. Chesed showered upon the
world as a result of personal atonement will bring redemption. Chesed
accomplishes its influence by being balanced with the next step in the
Shechinah’s descent into the world through Gevurah—or Miriam—whom
we will study next.
As observed in Sarah’s life and the concealed wisdom in her name, we
are shown how to bring the Creator’s blessings through Chesed. We have
seen how the length of Sarah’s life and the events that occur during her life
are found through the story of the letters composing her name. We have
seen how the love of God, the willingness to separate the pure from the
impure in ourselves and in our environment, and observing the holy
mitzvah of honoring the Sabbath as the outcome of Creation all contribute
to a holy life and the presence of the Shechinah, hence the capacity for
prophecy.
The End and the Beginning
The end is embedded in the beginning. In Sarah’s life are reflected the
beginning (creation) of B’nai Yisrael and the promise of redemption (the
end of our refinement). In Chesed (Sarah), we find the source of redemption
(Malchut, Queen Esther) and the promise of the Third Temple (the light of
Mt. Moriah), where the Akeidah occurred.
In all that we do, we are to invest love (Chesed) in the kingdom of the
world (Malchut) and in our actions (Asiyah). This is referred to in Kabbalah
as Chesed of Malchut of Asiyah. To do this without being taken captive by
the kelipot (the shells of evil), we must first attach ourselves to God and,
with loving intention, give to others. It is this intention that reflects the
wisdom and will of the Creator so that our deeds are themselves as
numerous as the stars, like Abraham and Sarah’s descendants. When we act
in the world through our generous nature, through selflessness, the
countless blessings of the Creator are ushered from above to below in
response. Sarah shows us that the seed of life is love, that the light of
Chesed is life itself.
4
Miriam
Gevurah • The Waters of Deliverance
As a reward for the righteous women who lived in that
generation, our forefathers were delivered from Egypt.
SOTAH, R. YAAKOV IBN CHAVIV, EIN YAAKOV,
“THE MERIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS WOMEN”
Miriam 
 Mem (40) Reish (200) Yod (10) Mem (40) = 290
Sefirah Correspondence: Gevurah
Titles: Prophetess, Midwife, Leader
Family: Daughter of Yocheved and Amram, older sister of Moses and
Aaron, wife of Calev, grandmother of Betzalel
Time Period Jewish Calendar Gregorian Calendar
Life (birth–death) 2362–2487 1398–1273 BCE
Exodus from Egypt 2448 1312 BCE
Entered land of Israel 2488 1272 BCE
Developmental Stage: Deliverance
Day: Monday
Sacred Species: Barley
Body Correspondence: Left arm or hand
Rituals: Repentance, midwifery, song and dance
Holidays: Pesach (Passover) and Sefirat HaOmer (Counting of the Omer)
Symbols: The miracle of the “traveling” well, the red heifer
Prayers: Vidui, Tashlich, Tevilat Kelim, Havdalah
Shine of Miriam–Gevurah: The birth of the messianic age, Moshiach’s
birth
Prophecy Source: Exodus 15:20
Miriam’s Song: Exodus 15:20, “Sing to God for he is exalted above the
arrogant …”
SEFIRAH: GEVURAH
The Sefirah of Gevurah is commonly referred to as the place of judgment
and strength. It is the Sefirah of boundary-making epitomized by Miriam’s
role among her people as a prophetess midwife and leader. Her capacity for
self-refinement through atonement teaches us the deeper spiritual meaning
of deliverance and judgment.
Phase of Development: After the seed (Chesed) is planted and the light
proceeds to the next Sefirah of Gevurah, what is holy is separated from
the unholy. Appreciation and attendance to disciplined behavior arise.
This awareness facilitates the process of repentance (teshuvah) and a
return to the path of a balanced life.
World Action: Gevurah helps us to lead others and to use the divine will
and soul for control of our animal nature and selfish desires. It exercises
the influx of Chesed, loving-kindness with judgment, discriminating
where to serve, whom to serve, and how to serve.
Spiritual Action: Gevurah requires that we add mercy to our judgment:
Gevurah with Chesed. Acts of loving-kindness balanced by proper
discernment describe this Sefirah. In prayer it is applied will to self-
refinement, a type of spiritual forbearance or strength necessary in
repentance. Gevurah teaches us how to nullify our egos.
Meaningful Work: Gevurah enables leadership in new ventures that take
courage to administer or positions of decision making as a disciplined
visionary or with work in justice, grassroots activities, or
entrepreneurship.
Day Focus: Gevurah facilitates sorting through our life, belongings, and
feelings and deciding what to keep and what to discard. This life review
takes a spiritual form each night before we go to bed, when we look
through our day and ask for forgiveness not only for what we have done
now, but also for what we have done in other incarnations.
Species: Barley as a grain offering or a wave offering was the first product
of the year to be taken to the Temple. Barley also is integral to the ritual
process that takes place between the second night of Pesach and the eve
of Shavuot, a forty-nine-day process called Sefirat HaOmer (Counting of
the Omer).1
MIRIAM’S STORY
Other than Esther, Miriam is the only prophetess about whose childhood we
know something. She was the older sister of Aaron and Moses, who was
not yet born when she was a young girl. She accompanied her mother,
Yocheved, as a midwife, and together they defied the pharaoh. Miriam,
strong-willed and attached to God, challenged her father, Amram, about
his separation from her mother’s bed. After going to the council of elders
(Sanhedrin), Amram returned and remarried Yocheved. Miriam danced
around her mother during the wedding ceremony, leading her younger
brother Aaron in celebration. She prophesied Moses’ birth and status as a
redeemer and exemplifies the courage and strength of a prophetess, having
faith in her prophecies even when others doubted her. She engineered
Moses’ safe return to his mother, who acted as his wet nurse, after putting
him into the Nile. Later, after the Jews were delivered from Egypt, Miriam
acted as midwife to the people, bringing them to a new stage of
consciousness.
She epitomizes leadership, guiding the women across the Red Sea,
where her famed Song at the Sea—considered her prophecy—took place.
From Miriam’s merit, the people always had God’s presence and mercy in
the traveling well of Miriam,which provided water to the Israelites. Her
entire life is characterized by the meaning and power of water, Torah, and
repentance (teshuvah) in both a personal and a communal setting. Later,
when she challenged God’s choice of Moses as spokesman for the people
and chastised Moses for marrying a Cushite woman, she was punished by
God and stricken with leprosy. She healed in a week, and B’nai Yisrael
waited for her return to health before moving forward in their journey.
Miriam’s repentance (teshuvah) shows us a three-stage process in which
we come back to God. She taught the people the importance of personal and
communal repentance. Miriam lived eighty-six years, and over her the
angel of death had no power. She died first in the same year her two
brothers, Moses and Aaron, died. None entered the Holy Land.
SYMBOLISM OF MIRIAM
A broken and humbled heart, O God, You will not disdain.
PSALMS 15:19
Sister of Aaron and Moses
We first meet Miriam, also called Puah, when she is five years old and
accompanies her mother, Yocheved (Shifrah), as a midwife attendant. They
are the midwives summoned in Egypt by the pharaoh.2 He tells them,
“when you deliver the Hebrew women, and you see them on the birth stool;
if it is a son, you are to kill him, and if it is a daughter, she shall live.”3
Miriam and her mother “feared God and they did not do as the King of
Egypt spoke to them, and they caused the boys to live.”4 The pharaoh
summons them again and asks why they did not follow his orders, to which
they reply: “[T]he Hebrew women are unlike the Egyptian women, for they
are experts; before the midwife comes to them, they have given birth.”5
This is an act of group rebellion in the Torah, and Miriam is the youngest
leader. The Israelite women’s collective rebellion against the pharaoh, even
under threat of death, is a commitment to God. “God benefited the
midwives and the people increased and became very strong. And it was the
midwives who feared God that he made them houses.”6
Gevurah as Return to God
“R. Avira expounded: As a reward for the righteous women who lived in
that generation, our forefathers were delivered from Egypt. When the
women went to draw water, the Holy one, blessed be He, prepared for them
small fishes in their jugs so that their jugs would come up half full of water
and half full of fishes.”7 The righteous are called fish, as are Moses and
Joshua, for like fish, their eyes are always open to the light as they swim in
the sea of Torah.
Miriam Challenges Amram
We see Miriam’s courage and strength displayed again, prior to Moses’
birth, when she confronts her father for divorcing her mother and departing
from her mother’s bed and for instructing the Israelites to leave their wives
because they fear producing sons who will be killed by the Egyptians.
Miriam says, “Father, your decree is harsher than Pharaoh’s. Pharaoh’s
decree is directed only against the males, whereas yours [by preventing the
birth of newborn children] is directed against the males and females.”8
While only six years old at the time of this incident, the divine spirit, Ruach
HaKodesh, infuses Miriam. Her father, Amram, so astounded by her
“voice,” takes Miriam before the Sanhedrin, the high court of seventy
Jewish elders. They say that he is the one forbidding marriage and thus,
likewise, could permit it. “What do you advise?” asks Amram, “Shall we
marry quietly?” They reply, “then who will make it known to all Israel?”9
Dancing around the Shechinah
Amram remarries his wife, Yocheved, seating her for a wedding procession.
“Aaron and Miriam sang and danced before her [happy that the savior of
Israel would be born to their mother] when married to their Father.”10 Here
we witness Miriam and her younger brother, Aaron, who will become the
leaders of Israel, celebrating their parents’ reunion. Aaron shows his faith in
Miriam’s prophecy concerning their parents’ giving birth to the promised
redeemer. We are told that at that moment “the ministering angels said, ‘The
Mother of children is joyful.’”11 The Shechinah is seated on the throne and
the guardians of B’nai Yisrael are rejoicing.
This celebratory dance by Aaron and Miriam is a holy convocation.
Dancing is an act that uses the entire body for joyous celebration, creating a
vessel for prophecy to occur. Here, Gevurah is elevated to Binah above it on
the left pillar, receiving the direct shine of Or En Sof from Keter in the
realm of Atzilut (emanation) preceding it, showing us the elevation of both
children, Aaron and Miriam. Aaron is later appointed High Priest of Israel
and merits the protective cloud of glory during the Exodus. Miriam merits
the miracle of the well, which provides water to the Israelites during their
sojourn.
Together, their attendance is re-created in their adulthood in the dance at
the Red Sea. Both times their joyous dancing causes an arousal from below,
an itaruta delitata, creating a vessel to be filled. This is followed by a
reciprocal arousal from above, an itaruta deliayla, or God’s response of
filling that vessel with light. Kabbalistically, “God’s flow of benevolence
[is] termed mayyim duchrin (masculine waters); man’s obedience to God
and fulfillment of the divine commandments are viewed as a stream rising
from man to God, [and are] termed mayyim nukvin (feminine waters); the
former may come as an act of pure grace,”12 or by the result of our positive
actions. Baal HaTanya shows us why “the God–man relationship in
Kabbalah is often symbolized in terms of the meeting of the streams of
water.”13
Miriam as Midwife
Miriam is the midwife of B’nai Yisrael. Gevurah is painful in the same way
that childbirth contractions are painful, but the birth of the child causes
great joy. We live in the time period referred to as the “birth pangs of
Moshiach.” As with Miriam and the Israelites before us, will the world’s
messianic age revolve in large measure around water—both its bounty and
its scarcity?14 In terms of the Shechinah, the midwife is expert in aiding
even the smallest opening to expand to give birth. This process is evident in
childbirth and is experienced spiritually in teshuvah (repentance).
It is interesting that Miriam’s early prophecies, according to the oral
tradition and her communal position, all revolve around the issue of birth.
Beginning at the age of five, she helps her mother deliver Hebrew babies.
Gevurah can represent a severe contraction or that which is called, in
Kabbalah, tzimtzum, a Hebrew term referring to God’s act of withdrawing
himself in order to create the universe. Developmentally, Sarah is the seed
of creation and Miriam represents deliverance, the manifestation of that
seed. Sarah is the mother of Israel; Miriam is Israel’s midwife. Her first
prophecy, according to the oral tradition, foretells Moses’ birth: “My
Mother is destined to bear a son who will redeem Israel.”15 When Moses is
born, “the whole house was filled with light.” Miriam’s father, Amram,
“kissed her on her head and said ‘My Daughter, your prophecy has been
fulfilled …’”16
Just as healthy childbirth takes place nine months after incubation in the
womb, so Gevurah gives us the discipline to prepare for the deliverance, the
manifestation of any idea, task, or belief.
Miriam’s Courage
Miriam’s courageous actions on behalf of the Creator and the truths of
Torah she learns are astonishing examples of bravery and how our courage
inspires others. Setting boundaries, the essential purpose of Gevurah, makes
it possible for us to keep our place. Miriam is a shepherd who keeps the
flock in order, making sure that things that flow down the Nile arrive at
their appointed destination. Like Sarah, Miriam is a teacher of the women;17
both are the grandmothers of holy leaders.
It is said that Betzalel’s wisdom is in Miriam’s merit. As Exodus 1:21
says, “It is written [God] made them houses, the priesthood and the
monarchy. Miriam received wisdom. She produced Betzalel and from her
issued David.”18 Betzalel is the architect and maker of the Tabernacleand
its instruments. David, of course, becomes king, the lineage from which
Moshiach will descend, the human vessel for Moshiach’s holiness and
presence to descend to earth.
Moses Is Placed into the Nile
Three months after the birth of Moses, we meet Miriam at the water’s edge.
Hoping to save him from being put to death by the Egyptians, Miriam and
Yocheved place Moses in a basket in the Nile. Then “her mother slapped
her on the head and said, “My daughter, where is your prophecy?”19
Miriam waits a little while for Moses’ discovery. With an obvious plan
from the start, staying by the water’s edge, “his sister stationed herself at a
distance to know what would be done with him.”20 The pharaoh’s daughter
comes “to bathe by the river” and sees the basket among the reeds. She has
her servant pull out the basket, and then the pharaoh’s daughter opens it and
finds the child crying. “She took pity on him and said, ‘This is one of the
Hebrew Boys,’”21 who were easily recognized by their circumcision.
Miriam then asks the princess, “[S]hall I go and summon for you a wet
nurse from the Hebrew women, who will nurse the boy for you?”22 Miriam
retrieves her mother, Yocheved, who is reunited with her son, the prophet
and emancipator of the Israelites. Miriam, as receiver and enabler of God’s
Word, shows complete faith in God. This epic moment in Torah history
suggests a story yet to unfold anticipating the birth of Moshiach and the
messianic age. From each Sefirah’s roots grow elements of the past,
present, and future.
Miriam’s Song at the Sea
Miriam and her brothers are destined to lead Israel together. “Three good
leaders arose for Israel; Moses, Aaron and Miriam.”23 After Moses is raised
as a prince of Egypt in the pharaoh’s house, demonstrating the descent into
the kelipot for the eventual elevation of the Israelites and the Egyptians, our
next encounter with Miriam occurs during the Exodus. On the Israelites’
behalf, God performs the miracle of separating the waters, whereupon the
entire Egyptian army is swallowed by the sea. Just as Miriam had saved the
Israelite sons from death, here she leads the mothers, daughters, and sisters
of Israel in a jubilant song and dance of triumph after they have crossed the
Red Sea. Called Miriam’s Song, the following verse is taken from the first
line (Exodus 15:20; see appendix 1 for the complete text): “Miriam the
Prophetess, sister of Aaron, took the drum in her hand and all the women
went forth after her with drums and with dances. Miriam spoke up to them,
‘sing to God for He is exalted above the arrogant, having hurled horse with
its rider into the sea.’”
Here, the theme of rejoicing and praising the Creator is re-created. It is
the second stage of the manifestation of Miriam’s prophecy. The first is
when she helps to restore peace in her family’s household in order to set the
conditions for Moses’ birth. Now, with God’s help, Moses has fulfilled his
role as emancipator of B’nai Yisrael. Miriam leads these two public ritual
dances, marking the events with her very bones, making dance and song a
sacred ritual by which the Shechinah can be aroused and the Ruach
HaKodesh summoned. Crossing the Red Sea, Miriam as leader of women
shows us the nature of courage the Rambam speaks of as necessary in
prophecy. Sarah teaches faith and generosity, and Miriam teaches the
addition of courage and discernment. Here, these two teachings combine to
accomplish deliverance (geulah).
The Bitter Waters and Waters of Deliverance
The parting of the Red Sea, which precedes the successful crossing of the
Israelites out of Egypt, can be compared to the breaking of the waters in
childbirth. It is only after this that the child is born. Miriam is midwife to
the entire people, helping them reach a new stage of development. Miriam’s
well, like womb waters, sustained the Israelites during their epochal forty-
year process of incubation.
After crossing the Red Sea, B’nai Yisrael continues toward Israel for
three days without water. “They Came to Marah—but they could not drink
the waters of Marah, because they were bitter; therefore they named it
Marah.”24 The community then calls out to Moses, “What shall we drink?”
Moses cries out to God—and God shows “him a Tree; he threw it into the
water and the water became sweet.… There he established for the Nation a
decree and an ordinance and there he tested it. He said, ‘If you hearken
diligently to the voice of God your God and do what is just in His eye, give
ear to His commandments and observe all of His decrees, then any of the
disease that I placed in Egypt, I will not bring upon you, for I am God your
healer.’”25 The next line in Torah tells us that the Children of Israel are
rewarded for all their ordeals. Did those whose thirst was quenched by the
sweetened waters of the bitter exile merit being brought into the land of
milk and honey in the same way that those who suckled from Sarah were
descendents of the righteous? Did they reach a spiritual apex of the
covenant for their generation? Perhaps they brought down the Shechinah
from the highest source of the Creator (Atzilut, emanation) to the physical
world of the kingdom (Asiyah, action)—a model for every human being
then and now. Was Miriam’s well, like Sarah’s milk, a source of the
Creator’s Divine Immanence?
“… They arrived at Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and
seventy date-palms; they encamped there by the water.”26 The twelve
springs have great significance. Having already learned that the relationship
between God and man in Kabbalah is represented by the meeting of the
streams of water, the twelve springs represent the Twelve Tribes of Israel,
which are commemorated again after the people cross the Jordan River. The
seventy date palms are symbolic of the Sanhedrin, the council of elders,
represented by Devorah and Tiferet. The number 70 is the Hebrew letter
Ayin and is also the word for “eye,” suggesting the vision gained from
Torah for rendering justice.
“They encamped there by the water” suggests a place of arrival. A month
and half later, “fifteen days of the second month,”27 the Children of Israel
speak to Moses and Aaron, saying, “If only we had died by the hand of
HaShem in the land of Egypt, as we sat by the pot of meat, when we ate
bread to satiety, for you have taken us out to this wilderness to kill the
entire congregation by famine.”28
The Creator tells Moses, “Behold—I shall rain down food from the
heaven,” which is manna, and then He gives the laws pertaining to its
collection, showing His love of His people. But God creates a test to find
out “whether they will follow My teaching or not.”29 The Israelites are told
to collect a double portion of manna on Friday and are prohibited its
collection on Sabbath. Those who collect extra manna at night discover that
by morning it is infested. Also, each person has only the amount needed,
regardless of how much manna each has collected. Still, God fulfills His
Word, raining down manna and quail at night.
Here we see how Chesed, the Sefirah of Sarah, representing overflowing
beneficence and preceding Miriam and Gevurah, commingles with the
harsh experience of exile. This demonstrates the descent of the light and
how elements of every prophetess and Sefirah are embodied in those who
follow and in the light’s ascent—and why it is said that we stand on the
shoulders of our ancestors.
Miriam Is Punished by God
The next time we hear of Miriam after the crossing of the Red Sea, after the
bitter waters, and after the miracle of manna is in Numbers 12:1–4.
“Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses, regarding the Cushite woman he
had married …”30 They ask, “Was it only to Moses that God spoke? Did he
not speak to us, as well?” And God hears. “Now the man Moses was
exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth.…31 God
said suddenly to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, ‘you three go out to the
Tent of Meeting.’ And the three of them went out.”32
This is the only time all three of these siblingsare addressed as one unit
in the Torah and are separated from the rest of B’nai Yisrael. God then
descends in a pillar of cloud and stands at the entrance to the tent. He
summons Aaron and Miriam, and to them He says: “Hear now my words. If
there shall be Prophets among you, in a vision shall I, God make myself
known to him; in a dream shall I speak with him, not so with my servant
Moses; in my entire House he is the trusted one. Mouth to mouth do I speak
to him, in a clear vision and not riddles, at the image of God does he gaze.
Why did you speak against my servant Moses?”33 Then God’s wrath rises
up and He departs: “The cloud had departed from atop the tent, and behold,
Miriam was afflicted with Tzaras [tzarat], like snow! Aaron turned to
Miriam and behold, she was afflicted with Tzaras [tzarat].”34
Leprosy and Repentance
R. Shmuel b. Nachmani said in the name of R. Yochanan: Because
of seven things the plague leprosy is brought down on people,
namely slander, bloodshed, false oath, incest, arrogance, robbery
and envy.
ARACHIN 16a
Furthermore, we are taught, “The Holy one, blessed is He, accorded Miriam
great honor at that time. He said, “I [will serve as] a priest [for her]; I will
quarantine her, I will declare her a leper, and I will discharge her.”35
God himself ministers to Miriam for the entire week of her quarantine,
benefiting all of B’nai Yisrael. The Akeidat Yitzchak (the prayer related to
the sacrifice of Isaac) in Sarah’s life becomes the merit by which all of
Israel benefits to this day and in which is concealed the promise of the
building of the Third Temple on Mt. Moriah (the Temple Mount of modern-
day Jerusalem). So, too, Miriam’s teshuvah helped elevate all of B’nai
Yisrael as they prepared to enter Israel. Her diminishment, as we see in
Sarah’s life of barrenness, is for all of Israel’s eventual elevation and for the
Israelites’ removal from Egypt by the strong arm of God.
Teshuvah: Foundation of Redemption and Deliverance
Free will is the foundation of teshuvah. As a teacher, Miriam is an example
to her people. Gevurah expresses the process we each go through in
choosing right action through humility. Her quarantine expresses this
process of repentance by which all of B’nai Yisrael benefits. The Rambam’s
Hilchot Teshuvah says:
[E]ach person is fit to be righteous like Moses, our teacher, or wicked
like Jerobam. [Similarly] he may be wise or foolish, merciful or cruel,
miserly or generous, or [acquire] any other character traits. There is no
one who compels him, sentences him or leads him towards either path.
Rather, he, on his own initiative and decision, tends to the path he
chooses. This was [implied by the prophet] Jeremiah who stated
[Eichah 3:38]: “From the mouth of the most High, neither evil or good
come forth.”36
We cause our own losses. Self-discipline is the cornerstone of the
observant person’s life, making it possible to choose wisely. “Behold, I
have set before you today life and good, death and evil.”37 There is also
always hope. Repentance acts as a corrective force. When we recall our
failures in judgment and actions and ask for forgiveness, we are, with God’s
mercy, sweetening the bitter waters of our emotions. Prayers of repentance
act as a spiritual remedy for the body and soul. It is for this reason that
Chazal (sages) teach, “All the Prophets commanded [the people] to repent.
Israel will only be redeemed through Teshuvah.”38 R. Eliezar declares: “If
Israel repents, she will be redeemed. If they do not [repent] they will not be
redeemed.”39
The Six Remembrances
From the daily prayer book used by observant Jewish men and women, at
the end of the morning prayers (Shacharit) we recite the Six
Remembrances. The first five are the Exodus from Egypt, receiving the
Torah at Mt. Sinai, Amalek’s attack as the Israelites were leaving Egypt and
the killing of the weaklings, the building of the golden calf, and Miriam.
The Siddur (prayer book) states, “Remember that which God your God did
to Miriam on the way when you were leaving Egypt.” The sixth
remembrance is the Sabbath (“Remember the day of the Sabbath to sanctify
it”).
Concerning the fifth remembrance—Miriam: Why aren’t the People of
the Book counseled to remember Miriam for the miracle of the well or for
her midwifery and bravery? Why is she not remembered for her leadership
or prophecy? She was the greatest prophetess of her time. Of the six daily
remembrances, two are remembrances of something negative: Amalek’s
murder of the old and infirm at the end of the caravan leaving Egypt and the
Israelites’ building of the golden calf. One of these is focused on what was
done to the Israelites by the evil Egyptian leadership and the other is
focused on what Jewish men did in a collective rebellion of evil against the
Creator. Three of the remembrances form the pillars of the Jewish people’s
existence: the Exodus from Egypt, receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai, and
remembering and keeping the Sabbath.
While Miriam has attained the same status as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
she is remembered in the Siddur (prayer book) for the most Gevurah-like
quality in her life story: challenging God’s selection of Moses as the
exclusive voice of the Almighty’s will and the consequences of her action—
her subsequent affliction and teshuvah. Though her momentary arrogance
and subsequent tzarat (leprosy) form one purpose of this remembrance—to
remember what God did to her—a deeper lesson is that God attends the
penitent as He did the second of B’nai Yisrael’s prophetesses during her
teshuvah. God attends each one of us who returns to Him in sincerity.
Teshuvah is a disposition of the heart originating in the desire for closeness
with God.
The Sefirah directly above Gevurah on the left pillar—Binah, which
stands for Mother—flows down to Gevurah. When Imma (Mother) and
Gevurah (judgment) are balanced, there is a proper measure that flows into
Tiferet (beauty), the Sefirah following Gevurah in the descent of the light.
Loving-kindness (Chesed) mixed with sound judgment (Gevurah) produces
truth (Tiferet). Beauty, like truth, is the proper mixture of opposites. Both
require a selflessness in which our egos are not invested with some notion
or desire for a specific outcome. Instead, we humble ourselves to serve as a
vessel for the Creator’s will. Devorah and Tiferet, the focus of the next
chapter, exemplify this capacity.
Gevurah as Teshuvah: The Narrow Return
Gevurah represents a form of self-evaluation and self-nullification. This
teshuvah, and the consequent return to closeness with the Creator, is an
ongoing life process. The Baal Teshuvah is a person who returns to Torah of
his or her own choosing; those who do stand higher than even the tzaddikim
(righteous men and women). Why? The tzaddikim, we are told, are born
with this inclination to aspire to live righteously and are most often raised
for this purpose. The Rambam teaches that the tzaddikim never have the
kind of lack that motivates the repentant in their search for God and
therefore cannot progress from the level of lack to gain the reward that the
Baal Teshuvah does. The Baal Teshuvah chooses by free will to put on the
“yoke of Torah,” which, by its nature, is more defined by limitations we
would not otherwise observe. We are rewarded for the effort put into
learning and living the word of the Creator.
Teshuvah: A Three-stage Process
As we have learned, Sarah represents the head of the week as Sunday, the
New Year, and Rosh Hashanah, during which is blown the shofar, made of
the ram’s horn and symbolizing the Akeidah. The three notes blown a total
of one hundred times represent three stages of teshuvah that every person
experiences in an effort to come closer to God. Expressing the combination
of Gevurah and Chesed, the penitent is reminded that this “thing is very
near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, to do it.”40 The Torah refers to
the Jewish New Year holiday as the “day of Teruha,” the middle of the three
shofar notes blown ritualistically. Theteshuvah that we undergo on this
holiday is a three-stage process and gives us clues to our own return.41
First, we must use our mouth to repent. We must say what we have
regrets about. Then we must “wail” and truly feel the broken heart of
having sinned. In the third step of our repentance, we are elevated by the
change in intention and desire for a new beginning. The broken-hearted are
most likely to experience the glory of teshuvah.42 The shofar calls everyone
to return. The shofar was blown when Torah was received at Mt. Sinai43 and
will herald the arrival of Moshiach. “And it shall be on that day a great
shofar will be blown …”44
In the Talmud we are reminded that “the Holy Blessed One said: ‘Blow
before Me on the shofar of a ram so that I will remember to your credit the
Akeidah of Yitzchak the son of Abraham. I will accept your Teshuvah, and
I will rescue you from your enemies and adversaries.’”45
Teshuvah as the Spiritual Tikkun Olam
In Kabbalah, teshuvah represents the return of the final Hay to the first Hay
in the tetragrammaton for the name of God (Havayah ): Yod Hay 
Vav Hay. The first Hay represents the Mother, the final Hay stands for the
Daughter, Vav represents the Son, and Yod stands for God or Father. The
name of God, which we do not pronounce, is the embodiment of the holy
family. All the Partzufim are engaged together. (See map 4 on Partzufim, in
chapter 2.) Every teshuvah is a correction of an entire world. The act of
teshuvah is a full return, a completion represented by closeness to the
Creator. A single person returning to a Torah-based life is a rectification of
the collective Tree of Life. This explains why we are told that when a single
life is saved, it is as if the entire world is saved.
The Process of Gevurah
Deliverance is an act of God, one of four aspects of the Israelites’
emancipation from Egypt46 commemorated with the four cups of wine
during Pesach (Passover), to which Miriam and Gevurah relate.47 The four
promises made by God are:
1. “And I will bring you out from beneath the suffering of
Egypt …”
2. “… and I will save you from their enslavement [of you] …”
3. “… and I will deliver you …”
4. “… And I will take you for me, as a Nation, and I will be,
for you, the Lord.”48
The third statement by the Creator, “and I will deliver you,” suggests that
He and the Shechinah will midwife the birth of the nation of Israel. Unlike
other nations, which are born of familiar tribes and then are territorially
consolidated, the nation of Israel was created by divine decree. It attests to
God’s promise that if the People of the Book live by the Book, God will
keep His people as a nation intact. As R. Avraham Brandwein reminds us,
in the Zohar written by R. Shimon bar Yochai more than eighteen hundred
years ago, we learn that “[t]he holy One Blessed be He, the Torah, and
Israel are one.”49
Purification
Prior to Miriam’s affliction with tzarat and as if to prepare the nation for her
affliction, Torah instructs the Israelites on the method of purification for
those afflicted with disease or those who have become contaminated by
handling or encountering anything that is dead. We learn the significance of
the ash of the red heifer (the ash acquired from burning the red heifer): It is
a remedy for purifying the contaminated, but the ash also contaminates
those who prepare it. Torah details the washing and immersing of clothes,
utensils, household, and body, as well as the length of time quarantine must
be observed, ranging from one day to seven days or longer. Discussed are
numerous kinds of skin afflictions, the degree of contamination that can
occur, and what signs of healthy healing are determined by the Kohen
Gadol (High Priest) through inspection of every person and his or her
household.
When Miriam is afflicted and set apart from the congregation, the
Israelites have no water, and if they travel without her, there is no guarantee
that they will find some. Since their collective experience at Marah with the
bitter waters, the Israelites depend on Miriam’s traveling well, said by some
to be a rock. While she lived, God provided water through this rock.
Miriam as Gevurah is sternly judged and afflicted by the Creator. Yet
Miriam’s repentance, like our own, affects the mercy (Chesed) of the
Creator. It is said that rain is the Chesed of God and snow his Gevurah.
Describing Miriam’s leprosy as snow suggests frozen waters that fall from
heaven, a statement of stern judgment (Gevurah as Elokim) by the Creator.
Moses begs God, “Please, God, heal her now.” God tells Moses that were
she to have spat in her father’s face, would she not have been “humiliated
for seven days? Let her be quarantined outside the camp for seven days, and
then she may be brought in.”50
Miriam is punished in a visible way so that all of Israel can see the
outcome of God’s judgment and can conclude that, surely, if such
punishment applies to Miriam, it applies to everyone. Her seven days of
repentance is a communal restoration; Miriam performs the function of
communal repentance that a High Priest performs in the Temple. “Because
Miriam waited a little while for Moses [showing her trust in God that he
would be saved when he was placed in a basket on the Nile, she was
rewarded in that] Israel waited seven days for her.”51
Miriam is the literal and metaphorical midwife of B’nai Yisrael. Her
quarantine serves as an analogy to the seven days after childbirth when a
woman is considered impure and in the usual seven-day menses after which
a woman immerses in the ritual bath (the Mikvah) to be purified. In
addition, if a woman has given birth to a son, it is on the eighth day that he
is circumcised, as the covenant with the Creator requires.
Miriam’s Death and the Sin of Moses and Aaron
The final part of Miriam’s story spoken of in the Torah is at her death. “The
children of Israel, the whole assembly, arrived at the Wilderness of Zin, in
the first month and the people settled in Kadesh, Miriam died there and she
was buried there.”52 But then we learn immediately afterward that “there
was not water for the assembly, and they gathered against Moses and
Aaron.”53 With Miriam gone, the miracle of the well stopped. It is here that
the congregation says, “If only we had perished as our brethren perished
before God. Why have you brought the congregation of God to this
wilderness to die there, we and our animals? And why did you bring us up
from Egypt to bring us to the evil place? Not a place of seed, or fig, or
grape, or pomegranate; and there is not water to drink!”54 This statement is
fascinating. Beyond the apparent massive rebellion by the people, Moses
and Aaron are asked where there are to be found the qualities God gives us
—seed (Chesed), grapes (Tiferet), figs (Netzach), pomegranates (Hod).
Where are these holy attributes and their corresponding foods that the
Israelites were promised to find in the land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael)?
We are then told that Moses and Aaron “went from the presence of the
congregation to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces.
The glory of God appeared to them.”55 Moses and Aaron ask God to help
them. They hear God tell Moses to “[t]ake the staff and gather together the
assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the Rock before their
eyes and give drink to the assembly and to their animals.”56
Moses and Aaron go before the assembly, as they are told, but then
Moses decides instead to strike the rock two times, saying, “‘Listen now, O
rebels, shall we bring forth water for you from this rock?’ Then Moses
raised his arm and struck the rock with his staff twice; abundant water came
forth.”57 While some Rabbinic scholars suggest Moses does this because he
cannot find the “proper rock” (the rock referred to as Miriam’s well; it had
become indented), Torah suggests that Moses’ decision is disobedient. As a
result of this single act, Moses and Aaron are both told by God summarily,
“Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me in theeyes of the
children of Israel, therefore you will not bring this congregation to the Land
that I have given them. They are the waters of strife, where the children of
Israel contended with God, and He was sanctified through them.”58
Just as Miriam is punished for challenging God’s authority to decide who
would speak on His behalf and for criticizing Moses for marrying a Cushite
woman, now her two brothers are told that they will not enter the Promised
Land. In all three instances we learn that the closer we are to the Creator,
the greater is our sphere of influence in the spiritual realms. Moses’,
Miriam’s, and Aaron’s punishments are extremely severe, expressing the
deepest nature of Gevurah—but we may ask why Aaron is punished for
Moses’ independent decision. The answer: Aaron does not attempt to stop
Moses from disobeying God, just as he does not prevent the men of the
assembly from erecting the golden calf in Moses’ absence. We are
responsible for not only our wrong actions, but also the wrong we do not
attempt to prevent. This is an obligation that the Sefirah of Gevurah
embodies.
The Waters of Kedusha
When Miriam dies at the age of eighty-six,
Moses and Aaron were busy with her burial, [while] the people of
Israel were searching in vain for water [since the well that supplied
them with water had stopped functioning]. Moses and Aaron were
sitting and mourning Miriam. Forthwith, the entire congregation
gathered against them. Seeing their angry faces, Moses and Aaron fled
to the Tent of Meeting. “Public servants,” said the Holy One, Blessed
is He, “go out of here quickly. My sons are dying of thirst, and you are
mourning over [Miriam]?”59
The story of B’nai Yisrael unfolds once again around water, both its
Chesed-like nature of life and bounty and its Gevurah aspect as judgment
before deliverance. As the Creator makes clear, the living take precedence
over the deceased.
Our next encounter concerning water, the echo of Miriam’s purpose, was
documented in a book that no longer exists, the Book of Wars of God. It
recounted the many battles the Israelites fought on their way to the
Promised Land after Miriam died.
The Israelites Sing to the Water
Once Miriam, who merited the well, is deceased and the roles of Moses and
Aaron, who together can summon the water to rise, begin to wane, the
Israelites themselves must merit the same miracles as those merited by their
three great sibling leaders.60 It is worth noting that after Miriam dies, it is
due to the merit of Aaron and Moses together that the water is restored. But
the people now realize that they themselves must do the work of asking for
God’s help.
Continuing their sojourn, Moses and Aaron lead the people during the
wars against the rulers of the territory, including Amalek. During this
process, many of the Israelites who lose heart and speak out against God die
from the bite of fiery snakes. The people then repent and God tells Moses to
make a fiery serpent and put it on a pole. Any of those who have been bitten
and who look at it will be cured.61 It is in Arnon“which is in the wilderness”
that this statement is made:
The gift of the Sea of Reeds and the rivers of Arnon; the outpouring of
the rivers when it veered to dwell at Ar, and leaned against the border
of Moab. And from there to the well—it is the well of which God said
to Moses, “assemble the people and I shall give them water.… ”62
Then Israel sang this song: “Come up, O well! Call out to it! Well that
the princes dug, that the nobles of the people excavated, through a
lawgiver, with their staffs. A gift from the Wilderness—the gift went to
the valley, and from the valley to the heights, and from the heights to
the valley in the field of Moab, at the top of the peak, overlooking the
surface of wilderness.”63
This well is “a gift from the Wilderness,” rewarding B’nai Yisrael’s
communion with God and nature. The entire congregation of Israel speaks
to the well together to merit God’s mercy, whereas during Miriam’s
lifetime, she alone merits the Creator’s benevolent participation in watering
His seeds of creation. After she dies, her two brothers make it possible for
the Israelites to drink. Now, for the first time since leaving Egypt, they
merit as a community God’s downflow of loving-kindness in the form of
nourishing water. Miriam’s midwifery of her people reaches its apex.
Everyone is elevated to a new station.
Joshua Ben Nun and the Jordan River
We have now seen how many significant events occur around water during
Miriam’s life and shortly after, leading up to the final crossing into Eretz
Yisrael. Every human being is composed of 90 percent water, and our
emotions affect these waters. This is one reason it is important to learn how
to control the flow of our emotions, much as a farmer learns to irrigate a
field properly. If we recall that the middot (the Sefirot of Chesed through
Malchut) or emotions are also referred to as “measured flows,” we can see
that Gevurah and Miriam prove that repentance and living a holy life
provide us with living waters. At the time of Miriam’s death, we are told
she is eighty-six, and we know that she left Egypt when she was forty-six.
In the year that Miriam dies, both of her brothers die as well. Therefore, in a
single year, three righteous people die.
If we skip ahead in the Torah narrative, we find that after the deaths of
Aaron and Moses, Joshua (Moses’ protégé), the one whom Moses
appointed at God’s command, becomes leader of the people. The leadership
has moved to a new generation of those born in the desert during the
Exodus. Having built the Tabernacle according to God’s instructions
through Betzalel’s (Miriam’s grandson’s) facilitation of a holy union with
the Shechinah, the kohanim (priests) instead of the Levites, who usually
carry the elements of the Tabernacle, are told to go first into the Jordan
River, carrying the Tabernacle.64
As soon as their feet hit the water and they are immersed “in the edge of
the water … the waters descending from upstream stood still and they rose
up in one column, very far from Adam, the city that is near Zarethan; and
the [water] that descends to the sea of the plain, the Dead Sea, ceased, and
was cut off; and the people crossed opposite Jericho.”65 Joshua instructs
each of the Twelve Tribes to choose one man who will select and bring a
boulder with him to commemorate the miracle of the waters being held
back, a phenomenon we also saw in the crossing of the Red Sea. After each
man places his stone on dry land in the riverbed, Joshua himself takes
twelve stones and places one at the feet of each of the kohanim, who then
leave the dry riverbed. As soon as they do, “the waters of the Jordan
returned to their place and flowed—as they had yesterday and before
yesterday—upon all its banks.”66
This ritual seems to be connected to the twelve streams at Elim after the
Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, and now they have crossed the Jordan—
and both are stages of deliverance. We might say that crossing the Red Sea
is what is known in labor as “transition” and crossing the Jordan, when the
people finally arrive in Israel, is the actual “birth” of a new nation. This
aliyah (going up) for all of Israel can be said to be the outcome of Moses’,
Miriam’s, and Aaron’s leadership as commanded by God. All of Israel is
elevated.
The Benefits of Quarantine
In the Parshiot in which Miriam’s life plays a part, we see elements of what
is holy and what is not, what is required of us, and what miracles are
promised by our attendance to God’s Word: water, fruit, God’s loving care,
our duty of burning the red heifer to obtain the ash for purification rituals,
our Omer offering, and other peace offerings. In addition, on two occasions
in the story of Miriam, we are shown a sort of spiritual medicine whose
principles seem to underly a more modern medical science called
homeopathy: A bitter tree sweetens the bitter waters and the ash resulting
from the burning of the red heifer purifies the contaminated andprophet is
in partnership with the Creator. Prophecy is intended to correct behavior,
predict the future, or avert danger from a threat to national defense or
natural disasters. Study of Torah (the word of God) and practice of the art of
prayer, the service of the heart, condition the body and soul to being a God-
attuned vessel through which prophecy can occur.
The teachings of the Chassidic tradition10 (Chassidut) reveal that God,
being a total unity, has no needs but as a form of giving desires to see man’s
pleasure in becoming God-like. Self-refinement and right action are the
hallmarks of the journey. The Torah instructs us about the creation of
humankind on the sixth day of God’s creation of the world. Our refinement
and way to perfection is through closeness to the Creator, which prophecies
highlight.
For almost five hundred years, the sacred teachings of the Aggadah (“the
narration,” referring to the nonlegal sections of the classical Rabbinic texts)
were difficult to find in English.11 The Aggadah addresses all the subjects of
the Talmud, the central body of Jewish teachings and folklore accumulated
over a period of seven centuries (200 BCE–500 CE), except for Halachot,
the body of Jewish law. Ein Yaakov, originally written in the sixteenth
century (1516) by R. Yaakov Ibn Chaviv and translated into English by
Avraham Yaakov Finkel in 1999, is a compilation of classical and
traditional teachings of the Jewish sages and rabbis.12 For this book, I have
drawn from this work extensively.
“Every Prophet has a kind of speech peculiar to him,” reveals the
Rambam. It is “the language of that individual’s, which the Prophetic
revelation peculiar to him causes him to speak to those who understand
him.”13 As expressions of the outcome of living a Torah-centered life, the
prophets and prophetesses are holy figures proving that prophecy is the
outcome of God’s Torah. Sometimes the prophets are not believed and their
prophecies are ignored. Their own courage becomes the foundation upon
which their prophecies remain intact and their record preserved.
Classical Judaism teaches that the Torah is the blueprint for God’s
creation of the world. This is why the People of the Book believe “the
authority of the Torah does not come from any miracle, but from God
Himself.”14 It is a foundation of faith to believe in the “eternal authority of
the Torah.” “Things that are revealed to us belong to us and to our children
forever.”15 God’s creation of the world is embedded in the thought of the
world before creating it, and the steps for the refinement of humankind are
contained in Torah. If the Creator wanted the created to become God-like,
to have a personal or even a face-to-face relationship with Him as Moses
did, did He not show us the way with His Word?
Baal Shem Tov (1698–1760 CE), founder of the Chassidic movement,
teaches in the Torah that God concealed the light from the first day of
creation. With this light, we can see from the beginning to the end of time.
Studying and living as the Holy Book (the Torah) instructs redeems the
world and makes our lives holy.16 Prophecy itself is the most refined
modality for communication between humankind and God, and few human
beings attain it. But there are other levels of divine guidance and inspiration
that are attainable to this day by all righteous people (such as Ruach
HaKodesh, mentioned later in this chapter).
THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES OR ARTICLES OF FAITH
“It is a foundation of our faith that the entire Torah, both written and oral,
was revealed to Moses by God.”17 This belief in Torah’s singular
authenticity is one of thirteen principles outlined by Maimonides (the
Rambam) and known today as the Thirteen Principles or Articles of Faith.
This credo, as expressed in Yigdal,18 represents the classical beliefs of the
historic People of the Book. It is the foundation of these beliefs that the
divine Commandments were given for all times, that all generations are “to
keep all the words of Torah.”19 It is forbidden to this day to add or subtract
any portion, letter, or note of the Torah.
Thirteen Principles or Articles of Faith (Shloshah-Asar Ikkarim)20
1. I believe with complete (perfect) faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name,
creates and guides all creatures, and that He alone made, makes, and will
make everything.
2. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, is
unique, and there is no uniqueness like His in any way, and that He alone is
our G-d, Who was, Who is, and Who always will be.
3. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, is not
physical and is not affected by physical phenomena, and that there is no
comparison whatsoever to Him (i.e. there is nothing whatsoever to be
compared to Him).
4. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, is the
very first and the very last. (G-d is eternal.)
5. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name—to Him
alone is it proper to pray and it is not proper to pray to any other.
6. I believe with complete faith that the words of the Prophets are true.
7. I believe with complete faith that the prophecy of Moses, our teacher, peace
be upon him, was true, and that he was the father of the Prophets—both
those that preceded him and those who followed him.
8. I believe with complete faith that the entire Torah now in our hands is the
same one that was given to Moses, our teacher, peace be upon him.
9. I believe with complete faith that this Torah will not be exchanged, nor will
there be another Torah from the Creator, Blessed is His Name.
10. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, knows all
the deeds of human beings and their thoughts, as it is said, “He fashions
their hearts all together, He comprehends all their deeds.”21
11. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, rewards
with good those who observe His commandments, and punishes those who
violate His commandments.
12. I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though
he may delay, nevertheless I anticipate every day that he will come.22
13. I believe with complete faith that there will be a resuscitation [resurrection] of
the dead whenever the wish emanates from the Creator, Blessed is His
Name and exalted is His mention, forever and for all eternity.
These classical beliefs are the background associated today with
Orthodoxy and are considered a reflection of all classical observant lineages
held in common with the ancient People of the Book of the times of the
prophetesses. By knowing them, we are given a better understanding of the
lives of the prophetesses and the concealed spiritual tradition they reflect.
JOY (SIMCHA) AS A REQUISITE FOR PROPHECY
We are told that prophecy does not rest upon a person unless he or she is in
a …
… happy, joyous mood, because prophecy cannot rest upon a person
when he is sad or languid, but only when he is happy. Therefore the
Prophet’s disciples would always have a harp, drum, flute, and lyre
[before them when] they were seeking prophecy to create the requisite
emotional joy. This is what is meant by the expression in 1 Samuel
10:5: “They were prophesying”—i.e. following the path of prophecy
until they would actually prophesy—as one might say, “so and so
aspires to greatness.”23
In Chassidic Judaism, which serves as the instructional background to
this book, this level of joy—simca Shin (300) Mem (40) Chet
(8) Hay (5)—is not the result of merriment, wine drinking, and frivolity,
but of devoted love and awe of the Creator, observance of Torah, and the
practice of performing loving acts of kindness.
FOUR QUALIFICATIONS FOR BEING A PROPHET
There are four primary qualities that every prophet must embody, reflecting
attributes possessed by Moses. “R. Moshe Yochanan said: The Holy One,
blessed be He, allows His Shechinah to rest only on a person who is strong,
wealthy, wise and humble …”24 Moses’ strength we know in part fromcontaminates the pure. In this sense, we are being instructed that if we keep
the commandments, we will not face death by plague (with plague being an
ever-enlarging circle of malaise and self-interest).
God is our healer. Quarantine and rest are effective restorative tools. This
cutting ourselves off from those habits, ideas, and actions that are
contaminating our soul’s vessel is what we do when we give up bad habits.
We cut ourselves off from them because of the damage they do to our
kingdom. There is no middle ground; there is only purification. Gevurah as
teshuvah is the birth of the newly returned person, hence the term for such a
person: the Baal Teshuvah. The sacrificial obligations of the red heifer,67 the
grain offering, and our own teshuvah keep us healthy and under the loving
care of God, who is our healer.
Miriam Revives
Miriam’s role in Gevurah and as midwife is both a physical and a spiritual
midwifery. She and the presence of Shechinah that rests in her are both life-
giving and spiritually restorative. The red heifer as a symbol of Gevurah
tells us that hidden in this concealed sacrifice—whose meaning we are told
not to try to understand, but which is part of the Temple service—is
something vital for our repentance and return to God. Even those
contaminated by the dead—which requires a seven-day cleansing period—
are given a remedy (ash of the red heifer) for immediate purification.
Because this remedy is connected to Miriam directly, we should ask
ourselves if our soul is dead in our body when we sin, when we behave with
arrogance and selfishness. Is being contaminated by the dead also a parable
of the danger of being dead to God’s Word? As tradition teaches, not only
does Miriam (Puah, which means to make sounds with one’s mouth) revive
dead children by whispering (Malchut, Asiyah) into their ears (Binah,
Beriyah), but she also revives those who have been dead to God’s Word.
The well is the living fountain of eternal life contained in the Creator’s
Word. Torah is like water, our source for being guided toward eternal life.
It is interesting that, as in modern homeopathic medicine, an element that
heals the sick when given to a healthy person will cause the ailment it is
meant to treat in the ill person. Those who manufacture the ritual ash of the
red heifer will be contaminated, but those who are defiled by the dead are
cleansed by it. The bitter waters that exist after crossing the Red Sea are
treated by Moses similar to the homeopathic methodology for purifying the
contaminated person. In homeopathy, it is said that the water holds the
etheric (realm of Yetzirah, formation) imprint of the material put into it—
that is, water holds the signature of anything put into it, whether physical,
emotional, or spiritual. For the Jewish person, a blessing on the water
precedes every drink of water. When we rise in the morning, the first thing
we do after thanking God for restoring the pure soul in our body is to wash
our hands ritually and say another blessing.68 Before prayer, the observant
purify their hands with water and a blessing. It is also said that our tears in
prayer take the place of the water rituals performed by the High Priests
during the time of the Temples.
Prophecy and the Well
Throughout the Torah, wells, rivers, and seas are central elements around
which revolves much of the Israelites’ story. Miriam merits the miracle of
the well throughout the Israelites’ forty-year journey in the wilderness. “R.
Chaya said: ‘if you want to see the well of Miriam, climb to the peak of
Mount Carmel. When you look down toward the sea you will see a round
rock, shaped like a sieve. That is Miriam’s well.’ Rav said: a moveable well
is tahor (ritually pure), and, like a Mikvah, may be used to cleanse people
and utensils of tumah (contamination) by immersing them in it. The only
moveable well in existence is the well of Miriam. It [the rock] miraculously
followed the children of Israel through the wilderness, thanks to the merit of
Miriam.”69 “When Miriam died, the well stopped functioning.”70 We are
told that it is in the Sea of Galilee, and that at the time of Moshiach, it will
be found again.
The Angel of Death Has No Power over Miriam
It is interesting that we know nothing particular of Miriam’s birth from the
written Torah, nor do we know about Sarah’s birth, but we do know that
Miriam’s death holds a holy status afforded no other woman in all of the
Torah.
Along with being one of the great leaders of Israel, Miriam is the only
woman over whom it is said the angel of death had no power. Her unique
status signifies the level of the embodiment of the Shechinah she possesses.
According to the Torah, the angel of death has no power over six
individuals: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. She dies on
the tenth of Nissan71 with a “kiss.”72 Many people celebrate Miriam’s
memory on Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon of April.
According to Likkutei Amarim Tanya, after we die, the soul goes through
a period of cleansing while the body disintegrates.73 Saying that the angel of
death had no power over these great leaders of Israel means they did not
need the requisite time of life review and preparation for the World to Come
that most of us will experience. They went directly from living in the mortal
body to eternal living, that which is promised for all righteous humans in
the messianic period. Further testifying to Miriam’s bodily endowment of
eternal light, we are told that “worms had no power over [the bodies] of
seven [that is, their bodies did not decompose]: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;
Moses, Aaron, Miriam and Benjamin.”74
Shechinah as Present Light
As we now know, the Shechinah can be evidenced by the quality of light
present. It can be seen in the face of an individual, as we have seen with the
righteous and with Moses and as we have seen in Sarah’s tent and in the
illumination in her beauty. Of Miriam it is also said, “Her face became [as
radiant] as the sun at noon.”75 Some have suggested her other name was
Zohar due to this “splendorous light.” This supports why Miriam left her
body through unity with the beloved Creator (through a kiss). The soul
infused the vessel of the entire body with the divine light of the Or En Sof.
Each of the six who departed as Miriam did had made of his or her body the
holy Tabernacle, where the Holy of Holies—the heart—like the Torah itself,
is full of God’s glory. Miriam’s death shows us that the body is designed for
eternal life, a concept we will explore in chapters 9 and 10.
Gevurah as Opposition toward Resolution
Miriam as Gevurah is constantly analyzing, separating the holy from the
unholy, the necessary from the unnecessary. Gevurah, unlike Chesed, is not
designed to flow unimpeded. It is designed to balance the flow with
judgment, establishing what is worthy and what is not, what is good and
what is bad. It is like the riverbanks that hold the water in its proper
channel. It is an ongoing process of discernment, and it attempts to balance
the desire to give with the desire to receive. For each person, Gevurah
establishes that there is a time and place for everything.
The Counting of the Omer
As mentioned earlier, the ritual of the Counting of the Omer, which begins
the second night of Pesach and continues for forty-nine days, until Shavout
on the fiftieth day, facilitates a spiritual journey through each of the seven
lower Sefirot of the Etz Chayim for a period of one week.
Though we have learned that blessings rest on those things that remain
uncounted, in this case blessings come as a result of counting. Why? This
manner of self-purification parallels the forty-nine gates of Binah, or
wisdom, which, it is said, Moses entered. Each of us is thus shown how the
Shechinah’s many qualities are manifested in the Etz Chayim. We begin our
count with Chesed of Chesed. Then we progress to Gevurah of Chesed,
Tiferet of Chesed, Netzach of Chesed, and so on until we reach Malchut of
Chesed. The second week, we move to the primarySefirah of Gevurah. The
first night of Gevurah is Chesed of Gevurah, then Gevurah of Gevurah, and
so forth. Finally, the very last night of Sefirat HaOmer, the forty-ninth day
of counting, we experience Malchut of Malchut (Malchut B’Malchut),
where all the prior Sefirot have endowed Malchut with aspects of their
nature, making each person an entire nation ready to receive the holy Torah.
This falls on the fiftieth day after counting the barley offering for forty-nine
days and nights.
Tashlich and Selichot
Tashlich is a ceremony performed on the first afternoon of the Jewish New
Year, Rosh Hashanah, when the observant throw small pieces of bread into
the water while reciting verses from the prophets Micah and Isaiah.
According to Micah 7:19: “You will cast all their sins into the depths of the
sea.” Here is an action of ablution and repentance of sin. This ritual reflects
the inner teachings shown to us by Miriam’s life. Selichot, as part of the
Shemoneh Esrei, is a daily prayer of repentance during which worshippers
strike their chest with their right hand (the hand that lifts us out of bondage)
and ask God for forgiveness. A longer version of Selichot is said on certain
fast days. The daily prayer said as part of the Shemoneh Esrei includes:
“Forgive us our Father, for we have erred, pardon us, our King, for we have
willfully sinned; for a pardoner and forgiver are you. Blessed are you God,
the gracious One who abundantly forgives.”76
The Mikvah
The Mikvah was created by Abraham and Sarah, suggesting the nature of
Chesed, the loving-kindness of God’s purifying water. In the structure of the
Mikvah itself, the housing for the water is Gevurah. The ritual immersion in
which we are cleansed of spiritual impurities is a mitzvah that must be
honored at certain times. This reflects the nature of Gevurah. Everything
has its proper time and place.
The blessings recited in the Mikvah, praising the Creator and the mitzvah
of immersion, assist in our attaining bodily health and spiritual renewal.
Through complete immersion, we experience Gevurah, receiving the
emanations from Keter, Chochmah, Binah, and Chesed. The full immersion
required for those who recite the blessings shows us the importance of the
Crown (our heads), which must be submerged fully three times to receive
the light of wisdom inherent in the ritual. In addition, being submerged in
His mercy (the waters themselves) causes Binah and Chesed to flow into
Gevurah. The waters of purification are endowed with the essence of the
upper Sefirot. The Mikvah thus functions as a method for the body and soul
to harmonize through prayer, reflecting total submersion in humility and
nakedness before God. Kitchen articles are also purified ritually (tevilat
kelim) in a separate Mikvah for this purpose.
GEMATRIA
The Lessons of Water
As we discover, water is one reason there is war or peace. Water eliminates
or sustains life. In this we are given a holy lesson for our own times and for
the future. In Genesis 1:29, the numeric value of the expression to you or
for you is Lamed (30) Caf (20) Mem (40) = 90, which is equal
to the numeric value of the Hebrew word for water (mayim): Mem
(40) Yod (10) Mem (40) = 90. We are told that the Creator has given us
every “herbage yielding seed that is on the surface of the entire earth,”
showing us that water is the source of bringing all life (the seeds of life) on
earth to fruition. While obvious from a physical point of view, this is also a
spiritual teaching of the relationship between Sarah and Chesed (as seed-
bearer) and Miriam and Gevurah (the deliverer who delivers through self-
refinement). The teachings of Torah are the living waters that sustain the
soul and refine the body.
90: The Gematria of Water
Having noted the importance of water in Miriam’s life as recounted in the
Torah and its action when in Gevurah, let us take a moment to look more
deeply at this enigmatic word—water—in Hebrew and its numeric
(gematriatic) meaning.
water (mayim): Mem (40) Yod (10) Mem (40) = 90.
The letter Mem is considered one of Hebrew’s mother letters: Shin
(300) Alef (1) and Mem (40). The value of the letter Mem (40) always
stands for the womb waters, the forty years in the wilderness, the forty days
of Noah’s travail, and the forty units of water for the ritual baths (Mikvah).
In other words, the first Mem of mayim is open like the sea, which allows
the tide to come in and go out. The open Mem, like the womb, has an exit.
The Mem that is closed (the final Mem), the last letter of mayim (water), is
like the cranium: The mochin (brain) is housed there in a closed chamber,
but through it insight is given and communication occurs.
Between the first and last Mem is the Yod (10), which is God’s creative
seed, the Ten Commandments and the ten utterances that created the world.
Yod is the letter in God’s holy name that begins His name: Yod Hay 
Vav Hay. It is therefore the first signifier of His living presence. Water is
the means by which the living presence of the Creator circulates on earth
and in our bodies. Water is a holy element in which are imprinted the
Creator’s intentions. Water is the foundation of all life. Without it, the seed
cannot grow, and with too much water, it will drown. In this sense, Chesed
without Gevurah will be flooded. The seed, properly watered by measured
restraint or receiving rains at the proper time, brings forth life, bounty, and
longevity. Our actions in proper measure lead to a purposeful life. Water’s
bounty becomes the vehicle for bringing life and peace—and conversely, its
lack can bring war in the world. Torah replenishes our soul; lacking Torah
brings about disorder.
God has been called the source of living waters. In the history of the
Jewish people until today, ritual immersion in water (the Mikvah) plays a
vital role in communal and personal development. The Mikvah itself is a
holy vessel of purification. The first time water is mentioned in the Torah is
in Genesis 1:6, recounting the second day of creation: “God said, ‘Let there
be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it separate between water
and water.’” The Torah explains that this is a separation between the waters
below and the waters above the firmament. “God called to the firmament:
‘heaven.’” We are reminded in this very first instance of water being
mentioned in the Torah that there are boundaries (Gevurah) in God’s
elements that make up the created world. Gevurah facilitates each element’s
purpose.
Figure 4.1. (a) The Mikvah outside the Temple and 
(b) seen from a distance, near the Southern Wall.
Using gematria, let us examine other words that have the same numeric
value as mayim. Water certainly contains deeper Torah secrets. Here is an
abbreviated list and the context in which the words appear.
king or royal (Genesis 14:1): Mem (40) Lamed (30) Caf (20) =
90
The context in which this appears refers to the war of the kings detailed
in the lost Book of Wars, mentioned earlier, recounting the Israelites’ battles
after Miriam’s death.
goblet (Genesis 44:12): Hay (5) Gimel (3) Bet (2) Yod (10) 
Ayin (70) = 90
The goblet is the one Joseph placed in the sack of his youngest brother,
Benjamin, suggesting the Gevurah necessary to reunite the family of Jacob.
I redeem (Exodus 13:15): Alef (1) Pey (80) Dalet (4) Hay (5)
= 90
God speaks of the redemption of B’nai Yisrael. Waters of Gevurah
sweetened by Chesed bring redemption. This reveals that the redemption
that comes through the waters of Gevurah (judgment) can be sweetened by
Chesed.
Sea (Exodus 15:22): Mem (40) Yod (10) Mem (40) = 90
The Torah describes Moses causing the Israelites to journey from the Sea
of Reeds to the wilderness of Shur, going for three days without water,
followed by their arrival at the bitter waters (Marah). That sea is equal to 90
suggests that the righteousness B’nai Yisrael achieved was due to their
communal repentance and humility engendered by their lack of water. Like
the BaalTeshuvah, who elevates the community, it is from prior lack that
their thirst for Torah and God becomes so intense as to merit closeness and
return to God. This principle hints at why even a sin can be elevated for
goodness or why exile or enslavement can precipitate emancipation and
freedom and why our hardships are worthwhile.
the Ephod (Exodus 28:6): Hay (5) Alef (1) Pey (80) Dalet
(4) = 90
Here, the Torah describes the priestly garments, including the Ephod, the
top apron wore by the High Priest, suggesting that this garment performs a
spiritual function, conducting spiritual powers in defined and particular
ways.
they teach (Deuteronomy 20:18): Yod (10) Lamed (30) Mem
(40) Dalet (4) Vav (6) = 90
The phrase they teach refers to the obligation of the People of the Book
to teach their children the lessons of Torah. Because Torah is also referred
to as living waters, teaching Torah to others performs the same function as
getting water from Miriam’s well. Gevurah, the ability to separate the pure
from the impure, the bitter from the sweet, enables our emancipation or
deliverance from drought or evil.
knew him (Deuteronomy 34:10): Yod (10) Dalet (4) Ayin (70) 
Vav (6) = 90
Here we learn that Miriam’s youngest brother, Moses, is concealed in the
mystery of water. These words refer to God knowing Moses.
When we study these and other words and expressions that have the same
value as the word water, we find the essential elements of Miriam’s life and
the events in which she was pivotal. This makes both Miriam’s life and the
“deliverance” of any of us from exile dependent on humility and teshuvah.
148: The Gematria of Living Waters
living waters (mayim chayim): chayim = Chet (8) Yod (10) 
Mem (40) = 58 + mayim = Mem (40) Yod (10) Mem (40) = 90; 58 +
90 = 148
The following words and expressions are equal in value to the numeric
value of the word chayim (living, 58).
the Garden (Genesis 2:9): Hay (5) Gimel (3) Nun (50) = 58
Noah (Genesis 5:29): Nun (50) Chet (8) = 58
grace or favor (Genesis 6:8): Chet (8) Nun (50) = 58
Chai, the number 18— Chet (8) Yod (10)—stands for life in general.
Tzadee ( ), the letter, is equal to the numeric value of the letters in the
Hebrew word for water—90—and represents the righteous, the tzaddikim.
Simply, living waters are the flow of wisdom through the righteousness in
us and in our communities. The righteous are the vessels for the presence of
God, for the Shechinah. Living waters are the living expression of the
Divine Immanence of the Creator. This reminds us of the Rambam’s
teaching: We can achieve prophecy in nature, such as by a river or lake or in
some place away from the community. Water as the outer expression of the
Creator’s love is the living divine presence of the Creator. We can say that
the Shechinah is present in all living water and that water is vitalized by
circulation.
The following is also equal to the numeric value of living waters.
my doctrin (Deuteronomy 32:2): Lamed (30) Kof (100) Chet
(8) Yod (10) = 148
This phrase refers to the commandments and teachings that the Creator
gave Moses and that were given to the People of the Book. We can see why
Chazal (sages) have referred to Torah as “living waters.”
86 Years: The Length of Miriam’s Life
Using gematria as we did to discover the importance of the length of
Sarah’s life and the age of Isaac at the time of the Akeidah (a time period
that corresponded with Sarah’s death), we can find Miriam’s Sefirotic
essence as Gevurah (also called din, or judgment).77
God, master (Elokim) (Exodus 7:1): Alef (1) Lamed (30) Hay
(5) Yod (10) Mem (40) = 86
“God said to Moses, ‘See I have made you master over Pharaoh, and
Aaron your brother shall be your spokesman.’” Here the limitations placed
on Pharaoh represent the diminishment of our egos. Humility is the
precursor to teshuvah and redemption. In this we see that Miriam is the
quintessential representative of Gevurah and Elokim, as Sarah was of
Chesed and Adonai.
to Elim (Exodus 15:27): Alef (1) Yod (10) Lamed (30) Mem
(40) Hay (5) = 86
Here, in Elim, as reviewed earlier in Miriam’s story, the Israelites find the
twelve springs and seventy date palms. In this instance, a story concerning
Miriam is revealed in the gematria of her years of life, just as the words
offered him up, referring to the Akeidah and Sarah’s son, Isaac, are
revealed in the gematria of Sarah’s years of life.
and they learn (Deuteronomy 31:13): Vav (6) Lamed (30) 
Mem (40) Dalet (4) Vav (6) = 86
This refers to the children of every generation learning the word of God.
In addition, the ritual of circumcision found in Genesis 17:12 equals 86. By
examining these numeric correspondences, we can begin to see how every
name and the length of every life conceals a story. The name is the key to
the vessel’s nature and makeup. In the length of our life, the vessel’s time
serving the individual soul, we find keys to our place in the world. This
concealed reality in our names and years of life helps to explain why it is
said that at our death, all the good we have done illuminates the world, and
it is this shine of the soul that is remembered on earth and in heaven on the
annual anniversary of our physical death.
290: The Numeric Value of Miriam’s Name
In the numeric value of Miriam’s name, 290, we find explicitly the
concealed importance of judgment (Gevurah or din) and repentance
(teshuvah). We have already seen that God’s name as judge, Elokim, is
concealed in the name Miriam, being equal in value to Miriam’s name. Din,
or judgment, signifies return, and it stirs and awakens (Deuteronomy
32:11), words that are also equal to the value of Miriam’s name and are
found in the song of Moses, in which he expresses God’s kindness to Israel,
making it clear that it is God who facilitates deliverance and
emancipation.78 Also, the numeric value of the word bitter is equal to
numeric value of Miriam’s name, 290, and refers to Exodus 15:23, when
God tests the Israelites at Marah, where the waters are bitter. All of these
phrases and many others show us that what we find in the text of a person’s
Torah story is also rooted in that person’s name. This is miraculous proof of
Hebrew’s vitality as a living language, reflecting the Creator’s blueprint.
Just as we learned that Sarah’s name defines her great prophetic talents,
we discover that Miriam’s name tells of an entire period in which she lived.
Maror refers to the bitterness in Egypt.79 Bitter Mem (40) Reish (200) 
Yod (10) Mem (40) = 290. Maror is a bitter herb, one of the elements of
the Pesach table ritual commemorating the bitterness of the Israelite’s life in
Egypt.
Another opinion is that her name is Miriam because “at the time [of her
birth] the Egyptians began to embitter the lives of the Children of Israel.”80
Miriam, though, was also called Puah, a name that means to coo or produce
sounds with one’s mouth, referring to her midwifery talent of reviving
babies by cooing in their ears; “she gave the newborns wine and restored
the babies to life when they appeared to be dead; she lit up Israel before
God [by teaching the women] …”81
Before we note the Torah words and expressions equal to the numeric
value of Miriam’s name, we can note how many of these portions of the
Torah actually define Miriam’s journey as already presented. This proves
the nature of the Torah as a blueprint for creation. We see demonstration of
the cosmic harmony between things that might seem dissimilar—yet their
natures are actually intimately related, as shown by their equal numeric
values.
fruit (Genesis 1:11, 1:29): Pey (80) Reish (200) Yod (10) = 290
“On the third day of Creation, God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation;
herbage yielding seed, fruit trees yielding fruit each after its kind;
containing its own seed on the earth,’ and so it was.” Fruit is the product of
seed (Chesed); thus in this sense, the Sefirah Gevurah brings forth the seed.
your fellow (your neighbor, Exodus 2:13):Reish (200) Ayin (70) 
Caf (20) = 290
Moses sees two Egyptian men fighting, and he kills the wicked one sof
them: “He went out the next day and behold! Two men were fighting. He
said to the wicked one, ‘Why would you strike your fellow?’” The next day,
two Hebrew men are fighting, and one says to Moses, “Do you propose to
murder me as you murdered the Egyptian?” Moses, realizing that his
murderous act was witnessed and now afraid for his own life, flees from
Pharaoh and settles in Midian. Here he saves the seven daughters of Yitro
(Jethro), his future father-in-law, the priest in Midian, who gives his
daughter Tzipporah to Moses as a reward.
This moment in Moses’ life precedes his encounter with God in the
burning bush. The seven daughters he saves suggests a rectification of the
Etz Chayim. They may reflect the refinement of Moses’ own middot: The
seven daughters suggest a refinement of Moses’ understanding of how we
use our place in the world properly and how we use our sense of justice.
Miracle of Crossing the Red Sea
Miriam (Exodus 15:20): Mem (40) Reish (200) Yod (10) 
Mem (40) = 290
“Miriam the Prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took her drum in her hand
and all the women went forth after her with drums and with dances.”
Miriam speaks to them, “Sing to God for he is exalted above the arrogant,
having hurled horses with its rider into the sea.”
Thousands of years after this historic act, Miriam is best known for her
dance and song with the women at the deliverance of the Israelites. Pursued
by the Egyptians, men, women, and children are forced to wade into the
sea, which opens up for them miraculously. The water rises to both sides
like glass walls, allowing them all to pass through. Once they reach the
other side of the sea, it is Miriam who leads the women in celebratory
dancing and singing while they watch as the waters engulf all of the
Egyptian horses and riders who have pursued them.
Miriam is midwife in Egypt, and the miracle of the parting of the Red
Sea is like the breaking of the waters in childbirth, a moment that precedes
the active stage of delivery. Here, all of Israel is delivered out of Egypt. Just
as Miriam and Aaron once danced as children around their mother,
Yocheved, Miriam dances again—this time with all of the female Israelites,
therefore fulfilling at the midpoint of her life her childhood prophecy of
Moses’ role as redeemer. Miriam spends the next forty years with B’nai
Yisrael in the desert, acting as their midwife and seer.
bitter (Exodus 15:22): Mem (40) Reish (200) Yod (10) Mem
(40) = 290
“Moses caused Israel to journey from the Sea of Reeds and they went out
to the Wilderness of Shur; they went for a three-day period in the
wilderness—they didn’t find water.… 82 They Came to Marah—but they
could not drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter; therefore
they named it Marah.”
Then the people call out to Moses, “[W]hat shall we drink?” Moses, in
turn, cries out to God—who then shows Moses a tree, which is bitter, and
tells him to throw it into the water. Moses throws it into the water, which is
sweetened by the bitter tree. “There He established for [the nation of Israel]
a decree and an ordinance and there He tested it. He said, ‘If you hearken
diligently to the voice of God your God and do what is just in His eye, give
ear to His commandments and observe all of His decrees, then any of the
disease that I placed in Egypt, I will not bring upon you, for I am God your
healer.”83 Here too is revealed a portion of the story of Miriam as a
component of her name. Here, prior to the miracle of her traveling well, the
bitterness suggests that Gevurah is an aspect of the covenant with the
Creator: Difficulty in our lives brings us closer to the Creator, and the Torah
is the living waters that can purify our lives.
ripe ears (fresh corn or groats, Leviticus 2:14): Caf (20) Reish
(200) Mem (40) Lamed (30) = 290
“When you bring a meal offering of the first grain to God; from ripe ears
parched over fire, ground from plump kernels, shall you offer the meal-
offering of your first grain.” The meal offering is for the process of self-
refinement: giving up something precious. On the second day of Pesach, the
first offering of the new grain crop was brought to the Temple as a barley
offering or a meal offering. We see that in Sefirat HaOmer (the Counting of
the Omer) we are instructed to count from the barley harvest to the first
wheat harvest, and this measures forty-nine days. In this sense, we see that
the discipline of observance is a process for self-refinement, giving up the
precious fruits of our labors and recognizing that all belongs to God.
(the red) heifer (Numbers 19:5): Hay (5) Pey (80) Reish (200) 
 Hay (5) = 290
“Someone shall burn the cow [the red heifer] before his eyes—its hide,
and its flesh and its blood with its dung shall he burn.” Here we encounter
the sacred and enigmatic red heifer, which, when burned as a sacrifice,
provides ash that purifies those who have come in contact with the dead
while contaminating those who prepare the ash that the Kohen Gadol, the
High Priest, burns. The heifer is embedded in Miriam’s story, as just prior
to her affliction with leprosy, its cure, involving the ash of the red heifer, is
revealed to the people, as we have already examined. Here once again,
Miriam’s name hides her life story, containing the secret of the red heifer as
purification for contacting the dead and repentance for being dead to Torah.
Both are remedies for body and soul.
arousing (stirring, awakening, Deuteronomy 32:11): Yod (10) Ayin
(70) Yod (10) Reish (200) = 290
This song of Moses describes God’s loving care: “He was like an eagle
arousing [stirring, awakening] its nest, hovering over its young, spreading
its wings and taking them, carrying them on pinions.”
MIRIAM, SARAH’S SUCCESSOR
Sarah’s tent is the vessel of the holy spirit. Miriam’s well is the source of
living waters. The bread of life is in Sarah’s tent. Miriam merits the waters
that sustain life. Sarah is obedient. Miriam is courageous. Miriam
challenges all authority, while Sarah is an obedient authority in her
community.
In the simplest terms, what Chesed implants in the world as the Creator’s
beloved creation Gevurah brings forth. Sarah is the seed bearer of B’nai
Yisrael, Miriam is the midwife of that creation. Miriam and the women who
follow her across the Red Sea are the flowering of Sarah’s teachings about
the Creator being the Redeemer—as she experiences when she conceives
Isaac at age eighty-nine. The first tzaddikim’s successor, Miriam, sister of
Moses, the greatest prophet, is herself the vessel through which God’s
waters of mercy (emancipation) and bitterness (enslavement) are tasted.
Sarah and her tent bring about the miracles of the holy presence, resulting
in the celebration of the New Year; the New Moon; and the Shabbat rituals
of making bread, lighting the candles, and serving the stranger. Miriam’s
life revolves around the community’s observance of the mitzvot of the
Mikvah, Sefirat HaOmer, and Pesach and the role of teshuvah. From Sarah
of the eternal flame—often symbolized by the letter Shin ( ), the first letter
of Sarah’s name—we move to Miriam and the holy waters of libation and
birth. In Miriam’s name the first and last letter, Mem ( / )—also called a
mother letter—signifies water. Sarah is the fire in Miriam’s water.
Miriam’s Barley to Sarah’s Wheat
Wheat is Chochmah (wisdom) and Chesed (loving-kindness). Barley, which
later becomes animal feed, is called a wave offering. Used in repentance,
barley reflects the emanation of Binah (understanding) and Gevurah
(strength). Wheat has an expansive influence on the body; barley has a
contractive and consolidating one. A diet that balances the two grains and
those who balance both attributes lead to a beautiful (Tiferet) life.
SUMMARIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF MIRIAM
Sarah shows us the first step of our lives and how we are conceived in love;
Miriam shows us our nextstage of development and teaches us about our
birth. From their combined lives and the combination of Chesed and
Gevurah, the individual and the nation must act, rooted in love with
merciful judgment, and then we can manifest our intentions (kavanah) with
the proper balance of generosity and restraint, humility and strength.
Miriam and the Sefirah of Gevurah tell us that our rebirth as individuals
and humanity occurs through our heartfelt repentance of arrogance and
error. Miriam is the prophetess who predicts the birth of Moses and his role
as redeemer. She is instrumental in preserving the Jewish people by
refusing to follow the pharaoh’s orders to kill the newborn Israelite boys.
As guide and midwife of the next generation in the Exodus, the expression
of Chesed in the world protected by boundaries of right action, she is
guardian of the miraculous “traveling rock” or well that provides the nation
with water for forty years. We remember Miriam for leading the Israelites
into freedom from the pursuing Egyptian army and for demonstrating the
importance of teshuvah (repentance) and return to the Creator. For all of
this and more, we recognize the promise her life gives to us: Moshiach will
be born and there will arrive the age of redemption, when all of Israel
returns to a love of the Creator and His Torah.
From Chesed we inherit the promise of the Third Temple and the
messianic age; from Gevurah we glean the fact of the Redeemer’s birth.
Miriam and the Torah show us that water can be instrumental in global
conflict and harmony in the days preceding Moshiach’s birth. This adds
meaning to the Chazal’s traditional teachings that say of the age in which
we currently live: We are the generation of the birth pangs of Moshiach; we
exist in the age of Yesod, which precedes the messianic age of Malchut. In
Miriam’s story there are answers to what our conduct must exhibit: We
function collectively as midwives to the birth of our redeemer, the Divine
Immanence (Shechinah) of the Creator embodied in the descendant of the
Davidic bloodline and in humanity’s hearts.84 Prophecy occurs, as we now
know, only if the generation is deserving of it. May we merit in our days the
Moshiach’s speedy arrival.
Beauty Comes from Combining Chesed and Gevurah
In Devorah, the next prophetess, and the Sefirot of Tiferet, we will
encounter the moral order that unites the individual (seed and community
that has blossomed) and a code of law. Combining Chesed, the right hand,
and Gevurah the left hand, we arrive next at beauty and the balance among
all parts, resulting in a moral and well-ordered society or individual.
5
Devorah
Tiferet • The Beauty of Moral Order
Judge your fellow fairly.
LEVITICUS 19:15 
Devorah 
 Dalet (4) Bet (2) Vav (6) Reish (200) Hay (5) = 217
Sefirah Correspondence: Tiferet
Titles: Prophetess, Judge, Military Leader, Entepreneur, Mother of Israel
Family: Wife of Barak (Lappidoth)
Time Period Jewish Calendar Gregorian Calendar
Period she is judge 2636–2676 1124–1084 BCE
Developmental Stage: Moral order
Day: Tuesday
Sacred Species: Grapes
Body Correspondence: Torso
Ritual: Blessings on wine
Holiday: Sukkot
Symbols: Palm tree of righteousness, lulav, wine
Prayers: Hallel, Birchat Hamazon
Shine of Devorah–Tiferet: Establishment of Sanhedrin in messianic times,
Ark of the Torah in the Temple
Prophecy Source: Judges 4:4–5:31 “… behold God, the God of Israel has
commanded …”
Devorah’s Song: Judges 5:1–31, “When vengeances are inflicted upon
Israel …”
SEFIRAH: TIFERET
As the middle of the Etz Chayim, Tiferet elevates everything to its greatest
potential. It is a place of synthesis, balance, and order. It is the center,
drawing its vitality from and distributing it to the other Sefirot of the Etz
Chayim. It is like the hub of a wheel. Tiferet (Devorah) represents the
melding of all the attributes found in Sarah–Chesed, Miriam–Gevurah,
Chanah–Netzach, Avigail–Hod, and Chuldah–Yesod, integrating all of them
for their connection to Malchut (Esther) at the bottom of the middle pillar,
below Devorah.
Phase of Development: Tiferet is the establishment of moral order. Moral
and legal order endows a society with harmony, representing the
Creator’s plan for us. Devorah guides the Israelites after the Exodus,
when we leave Miriam, and shows us how to create a society that is
founded on law and order. The physical world (Asiyah) reflects the
spiritual laws or “courts” of God (Yetzirah).
Life Principle: Devorah reflects the life principle of beauty and integrated
leadership in truth. Tiferet elevates everything by consideration of its
purpose and uniqueness, resulting in harmony among the parts. Beauty of
the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts. Beauty and truth
nurture the soul and world.
World Action: Tiferet integrates many points of view and people, showing
us how to balance all our emotions properly into a harmonious unit. In
leadership, it emphasizes the ability to guide many—just as Devorah
does as a judge, business owner, and military leader—and to do so with
fairness. Tiferet engenders peace.
Spiritual Action: Tiferet shows us that a beautiful home or idea or group of
people comes from the same integration of parts that respects and honors
each thing for its own unique contribution. Devorah recites the Hallel, a
great song of praise, reflecting the harmony of God and Israel.
Meaningful Work: Activities related to Tiferet deal with improving
situations, environments, or groups of people. Tiferet benefits everything
when we bring out the best in each situation and person. Artists, social
entrepreneurs, interior designers, and mediation counselors all are rooted
in Tiferet.
Day Focus: Tuesday as Tiferet is ideal for making some area more
beautiful and harmonious during the day, whether we are at home or in
the office or the area is in our hearts (feelings), actions, or words. On this
day we do something with a focus on beauty, balance, and harmony. The
source of peace is in Tiferet and culminates in Hod (Avigail).
Species: Grapes as the sacramental offering tell us that Tiferet, the center of
the Etz Chayim, elevates everything. We say the Bracha (blessing) with
wine for our Sabbath meals and holidays. Pressing grapes results in wine.
In our own lives, what is precious inside of us is the result of pressing our
natures for their refinement. We find a similar trait in Yesod, also on the
middle pillar and which stands for olive oil, and in Malchut, date honey.
All three—Tiferet, Yesod, and Malchut—represent a refinement of
something in order to produce their holy elements.
DEVORAH’S STORY
We meet Devorah as a woman married to Lappidoth, who was either a
wickmaker or General Barak (and Lappidoth another of his names).
Devorah was a remarkable woman whom we learn from the Torah was a
prophetess and a judge. Devorah was also a business owner of at least four
enterprises: palm trees, apple orchards, olive oil, and white earth. Not only
was Devorah independently wealthy, but also she was the only judge of
Israel in her day who actually sentenced people for their crimes. Later in
life, she was told by HaShem (God) to lead an army for which she herself
would be considered a military general. With Barak, she waged a
successful war on Mt. Tabor against the Canaanite king during which six
miracles were said to have occurred. After their victory, Devorah sang her
song of prophecy, including the Hallel, a great prayer of praise. It is said by
some that Devorah was arrogant for calling Barak to come to her rather than
going to see him after God instructed her to wage war. As an example of the
holy spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, abandoning her (though there are other ways
to interpret this event), these interpreters cite: “Awake, awake, Devorah.”
Devorah teaches that we structure time based on a holy pattern of the
six directions of space and that moral order brings certain beauty and peace.
We do not know her length of life or where or when she died, but we do
know that she satas a judge and guardian of the people for forty years.
SYMBOLISM OF DEVORAH
Devorah and the Mandate to Establish Justice
We begin our study of Devorah, the Sefirah of Tiferet, and the mandate to
establish a justice system with an inspection of the commandment itself.
Learning that Devorah is the first judge to be called a prophetess and the
only judge of her days whom the people go to for rendering judgment, we
are given information about the nature of Tiferet as the third Sefirah in this
journey of attributes.
“Our Rabbis taught: Seven commandments were given to the
descendants of Noah [i.e., all mankind]: the duty to establish a justice
system; the prohibition of blasphemy; idolatry; adultery; bloodshed;
robbery; eating flesh cut from a living animal.”1 From where do the sages
derive these directives? According to R. Yochanan, the directives come
“[f]rom the verse ‘The Lord God commanded the man [Adam], saying;
‘You may freely eat from every tree in the Garden.’”2 (The command was
given to Adam and therefore to all mankind.) “[C]ommanded the man”
refers to the establishment of a justice system; and so the quote goes on,
“For I have loved him, because he commands his children and his
household after him that they keep the way of God, doing charity and
justice.”3 The word command is associated with justice,4 and of all the laws
God gives to humanity, establishing a justice system is the first obligation.
Tiferet embodies this teaching as the core around which holy life occurs in
the individual and the world.
For the People of the Book, establishing a justice system overrides all
other issues at the founding of the nation of Israel.
Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities—which God
your God gives you—for your tribes; and they shall judge the people
with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert judgment, you shall not
respect someone’s presence [be influenced by status], and you shall not
accept a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and make
just words crooked. Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue, so
that you will live and possess the land that God, your God, gives.5
Righteousness, an ingredient of justice, is a prerequisite for the
possession of the land by the People of the Book. Our inheritance in this
world and the World to Come (after death or after the coming of Moshiach)
is based on our righteousness.
A Balance of Parts
Beauty and truth form an equilibrium among parts. In the Torah, God gives
the Torah to the People of B’nai Yisrael in parts and later gives land in parts
through Moses to the different tribes that merit it. In the spiritual kingdom,
there is balance of parts as there is on earth and in our bodies. A beautiful
painting, piece of music, or life is a well-proportioned one. In the twelve
months of judgment, the parts of the year, like the Twelve Tribes, have their
purpose.6
Justice and Charity Bring Beauty, Harmony, and an Elevation
How are judgment and commandment connected to beauty, truth, or mercy?
The 365 negative commandments and the 248 positive ones, which have a
correspondence in the human body, comprise the 613 commandments for
instituting and keeping justice, and it is by these that the Jewish tradition is
structured. These 613 parts represent all of Torah’s laws.
Significantly, judgment also comes in parts. R. Akiva said, “There are
five things that lasted twelve months: 1) the judgment of the generation of
the flood; 2) the judgment of Job; 3) the judgment of the Egyptians; 4) the
judgment of Gog and Magog in time to come will last twelve months; 5) the
judgment of the wicked in Gehinom will continue for twelve months. For it
says, ‘it will be from one month to the same month a (year later).’”7
A well-ordered community, like justice, balances the parts of any given
medium or situation. There are twelve stones on the breastplate of the
Kohen Gadol (High Priest) representing the Twelve Tribes and the spiritual
qualities of the months of the year with which they are associated.
An element of the rectification of sparks is evidenced in administering
justice with charity. This charity also shows up in judgment. Beit Hillel,
referring to the school of Hillel the Elder, or Hillel HaZaken (70 BCE–10
CE), says, “If a person’s merits and failings are evenly balanced, He who is
full of mercy will tip the scales of justice towards the side of mercy.”8 We
learn, in addition, that “praiseworthy are those who act justly, who do
charity at all times.”9 Charity is an equal part of justice. The justice served,
the remedy of immorality, in part rectifies the light that is concealed in the
evil of an act or situation. Tiferet suggests that action includes an intention,
and so we are judged for our intentions in the process of rectification.
Intention is the heart of a word, thought, or action, which is why we try to
“judge the heart of the situation” or “get to the heart of the matter.” We are
told to “judge our fellow fairly” with a mixture of mercy (Chesed) and
appropriate severity (Gevurah).
The Golden Rule
The golden rule—not to do to your neighbors that which you would not
want them to do to you—is the basis of moral order. When it is adhered to,
the community forms a potentially beautiful society. Through justice, our
deeds and intentions are held accountable. The remedy is balanced by the
act of sentence. For the People of the Book, the death penalty is considered
neither immoral nor too harsh; though rarely used, it originated in the Law
that God gave Moses.
Beauty and moral order utilize deliberate elimination of that which would
corrupt harmony, while also making possible methods of restitution. For
justice to elevate the sparks, the light encased in the shells of evil (kelipot),
justice must be sweetened with charity, which produces mercy, another
name for an essential quality of Tiferet. A judge must attempt to rectify the
harm of someone’s actions against another or toward the Creator’s Word by
establishing proper remedy. Just as Miriam shows us that repentance is the
spiritual remedy for sin, Devorah teaches us that justice is the remedy for
immoral action.
The Middle Path
Tiferet as beauty, truth, and mercy suggests a harmonizing of opposites, the
classical meaning for the most difficult of the esoteric paths: the middle
path. As the middle of the middle pillar of the Tree of Life, Tiferet
establishes the ability to integrate and elevate. Because she is a woman
already endowed with extra Binah, or understanding, Devorah’s unique role
is as the first judge to be called a prophet and the only woman to have such
a role in the life of the People of the Book. Just as Sarah’s life holds the
shine of the Third Temple and the holiday of Rosh Hashanah and Miriam’s
life holds the promise of self-refinement, the holiday of Pesach, and the
promise of the birth of the redeemer, Devorah’s life teaches us about
communal moral order: an emancipation from tyranny leading to self-rule
by the self-governed and a beautiful order according to the Creator’s Word.
Devorah’s life shows us the importance of following God’s Law and
practicing charity and justice. Tiferet is the promise of the reformation of
the Beit Din, the official court of law, reflecting the integration of society’s
parts and the placement of men and women together among the counsel of
elders (Sanhedrin) when the Temple is restored.
Charity and justice are pillars of Jewish life. Charity is represented by the
right pillar or Chesed (Sarah) and repentance and return are represented by
Gevurah (Miriam). The lives of these two prophetesses and the phases of
development they embody are seen as the combined virtues exemplified in
the life of Devorah, their immediate successor. Devorah the judge balances
the scales in the society according to the spiritual laws of justice. A prophet
who is a judge best exemplifies these two bodies of influence: prophecy
(Chesed) and obedience (Gevurah) to the teachings of Torah. Devorah’s life
shows us how to refine ourselvesin order to receive prophecy through the
Ruach HaKodesh for the benefit of the world.
Devorah in the Torah
Appropriate to Devorah’s great prophetic and professional role as a
prophetess judge, we meet her first in the Torah in Judges 4:4–5. “Devorah
was a Prophetess, The wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. She
would sit under the date palm of Devorah, between Ramah and Beith-El on
Mount Ephraim, and the children of Israel would go up to her for
judgment.” Devorah is the “first judge be to be described as a Prophet and
as a decider of questions of law for the nation.”10
Devorah as Business Owner
Devorah comes from the tribe of Naphtali11 and lives in the city of “Atarot
… She was independently wealthy; she owned palm trees in Jericho,
orchards in Ramah, oil-producing olives in Beit-El, and white earth in Tur
Malka.”12 Though we learn of her wealth, we do not know how she is able
to accumulate these businesses if, as some scholars say, her husband is only
a wickmaker named Lappidoth. It is more likely that Barak, the powerful
military leader, is her husband, as other scholars suggest, and the name
Lappidoth, which means “fiery” or “flash,” is another of his names. Some
even attribute to Devorah the occupation of wickmaker, which can be seen
as a metaphor for leading others to arouse their inner fire.
We are asked to imagine Devorah presiding over several businesses
simultaneously and having the ability to cultivate important domestic and
trading commodities: date honey, apples, olives for olive oil, and white
earth for ceramics.
A Judge of Israel
For a biblical woman, property ownership was rare. But Devorah’s talents
go beyond industry. She is also a judge, prophetess, and military leader. To
be a female judge at the time was remarkable, but even more amazing is
that Devorah was the only judge who actually made decisions about cases.
Perhaps her independent wealth made her a good judge, because she
couldn’t be bribed. In Deuteronomy, Moses describes the appointing of
elders as Judges:13 “You shall not show favoritism in judgment, small and
great alike shall you hear, you shall not tremble before any man, for the
judgment is God’s; any matter that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to
me and I shall hear it.”
Some commentators find fault with Devorah’s role as judge, suggesting
that a woman should not hold such a position. Some Rabbinic scholars also
fault her for calling Barak to come to her before going to war against the
Canaanites. Critics say that this “man’s” position of emanation—of acting
as judge and warrior—is inappropriate for a woman. Nevertheless, God
selects the prophetess Devorah to stand as B’nai Yisrael’s leader and judge.
As the Torah shows, the community of her day is supportive of her role.
Perhaps Devorah, like Sarah and Miriam, as a leader for humanity’s
redemption, presages the time when women will be the primary emanators,
which some Kabbalists predict for the time of Moshiach.
The Prophetess’s Reported Arrogance
“ There were two women,” it is said, “who were arrogant, and both had
unpleasant names: Devorah (bee) and Chuldah (mole).”14 Is their arrogance
significant or has there been a historic tendency in scholarship by previous
generations of male writers and teachers to diminish the biblical women’s
centrality and historic leadership? Subsequently, has women’s equality in
the culture of Judaism been undermined? Is this part of God’s plan, an
initial diminishing of women for their eventual elevation and therefore the
elevation of the world?
Devorah’s Seat of Justice
The Righteous will flourish like the date palm.
PSALMS 92:13
We learn from the Torah that Devorah’s seat of justice is on top of a hill
under a palm tree in the southern extremity of Ephraim, between Beit El
and Ramah.15 We are taught traditionally that she positions her seat here to
avoid seclusion with men16—that “since a woman must not secure herself
with men in the house, she sat in the shade of a palm tree, teaching Torah to
the public.”17 While this may be one reason for Devorah’s choice, we can
consider others. The open-air forum allows greater numbers of people to
come and go and possibly hear how proper judgment is made. When
teaching, Devorah can reach more people in a single sitting than would fit
in a house. Also, Devorah’s prophecy occurs through Ruach HaKodesh
when she judges, and this is more easily contacted in nature, as the
Rambam shows us. Seated under the palm tree in nature’s embrace,
Devorah accesses the Holy Spirit.
Knowing that part of Devorah’s wealth comes from palm trees, we can
also say she has an affinity for the palm tree and the angels that oversee
their growth. We are taught that angels are assigned to each and every plant
and blade of grass and to all that lives.
Devorah’s Wealth and the Etz Chayim
Devorah’s wealth comes from products of the earth, with two of them
among the seven holy species of the land of Israel: olive oil (Yesod) and
date palm honey (Malchut). Interestingly, these species are both on the
middle pillar of the Tree of Life, as is Devorah with her personal symbol of
the palm tree and as is the holy species for Tiferet, the grape. Amazingly,
Devorah, the prophetess in the middle of the middle path, reflects life
engagement with all three species inherent in its parts by the enterprises she
owns and the sacred species of Tiferet, which she embodies.
Spiritually, then, Devorah and the elements in her life reflect the hidden
and interior nature of the entire middle path or pillar, which extends from
the source of the loving and almighty God as Keter or Crown (the sun that
makes things grow) to Daat, the seat of the Bat Kol (Daughter of the Voice
or prophecy and knowledge), to Tiferet (grapes), then to Yesod (olive oil),
and finally to Malchut (date honey). The grape, the species associated with
Tiferet, elevates the olive oil and date honey just as Devorah, Tiferet,
elevates everything we do to a harmonious beauty when we include all
parts. Devorah, Tiferet, is where the ascending light and the descending
light commingle most clearly. In Tiferet we emanate and receive, ascending
and descending the Etz Chayim.
Judgment before Creation or Incarnation
Torah, as the outcome of creation and the laws it prescribes, shows us that
justice and mercy were created before the world itself. In the same way, the
heart or nature of a person’s soul is created in between lives, before the
formation of the body, and our attributes and deficits are measured in the
afterlife and a course of rectification is set. Our hearts are “established”
before the soul can incarnate, reflecting as it does the aspects of ourselves
that are complete and those parts that need rectification. The Shechinah
does not rest on the corrupt individual. In the same way, without justice, the
Shechinah has no “public” house in which to rest.
Qualifications of a Judge
We learn in Baraita (meaning “outside,” and referring to those Mishnaic
teachings outside of the codified writings of R. Yehudah Hanasi), “R. Yose
said: Initially there were not many disputes in Israel; there was one Beit Din
(house of Judgment) of seventy-one judges that sat in the Hall of Hewn
Stones, and there were two courts of twenty-three judges—one sitting at the
entrance of the Temple Mount, and one sitting at the entrance of the
[Temple] Courtyard, and other courts of twenty-three-judges were sitting in
all cities throughout Eretz Yisrael.”18 The Sanhedrin decided the
qualifications of the local judges, saying that “[w]hoever is wise, humble,
and well liked by the people should be appointed judge in his city.”19
Devorah fits all of these qualifications, acting as the sole judge, just as
Moses does for all of Israel during the Exodus.
Tiferet is traditionally referred to as the seat of Jacob (Yaakov) in the
Tree of Life, which represents Israel as a nation, and is where the heart has
its seat in the body. Devorah’s life, like that of Moses and Jacob, acts as the
central organ of unity and lifeamong B’nai Yisrael; she is a mother of Israel
who is a living example of the fulfillment of the commandments. Tiferet
reflects love and discrimination or judgment (Chesed and Gevurah), the will
inherent in victory and eternity (Netzach), and humility (Hod) through the
brit (a circumcision of the heart) and culminates in the brit milah of the
regenerative organs of the male (Yesod), in service to God’s Law.
The Nature of Zeal
To have zeal in our desire to perform the mitzvot or the commandments is a
desirable quality in those who aspire. “The man whose soul burns in the
service of the Creator will surely not idle in the performance of his Mitzvot,
but his movements will be like the quick movements of fire; he will not rest
or be still until the deed has been completed.”20 The Ramak (R. Moshe
Cordovero) says that performing good deeds with speed in the limbs
encourages an inner flame. Yet if we are “sluggish in the movements of the
limbs, the movement of his spirit will die down and be extinguished.”
Experience testifies to this. We learn then that “outer movements awaken
inner ones.”21
As both a deeper teaching regarding the role of justice in a society’s
development and a person’s evolution, Devorah displays this multifaceted
zeal. In other words, the heart inspires the limbs, the ministers of our will.
Tiferet, expressing the zeal of the heart to keep life in the body, is the same
zeal of the soul when we use the body in service to the Creator. “It is known
that what is most preferred in divine service is desire of the heart and
longing of the soul.”22 “My soul longs and goes out for the courts of God.”23
Pirkei Avot: Ethics of the Fathers
In Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers, we are told, “Which is the proper
path that a man should choose for himself? … Consider three things and
you will not come into the grip of sin: Know what is above you—a
watchful Eye, and attentive Ear and all your deeds are recorded in the
Book.”24 The words, eye, ear, and book give us hints about the deeper or
secret (sod) meaning of this advice and how it pertains to Tiferet, Devorah,
and the laws of a just society.
The eye is represented by the Sefirah of Chochmah, or Father, joined to
the ear, which is Mother or Binah. When we recite the Shema prayer, which
begins with “Hear oh Israel,” Tiferet (Israel) can “hear” the word of God
and gain understanding (Binah). The book of heavenly records, the ending
of the three things one is advised to consider to avoid sinning, reflects the
soul’s afterlife disposition. In the Torah, we are given access to wisdom
(sight) and understanding (hearing) so that our record is illuminated by right
thought and action (speech). If we listen to the voice of the soul within,
controlling what happens in our kingdom (through the ministers of thought,
speech, and action), we will be blessed in the World to Come, represented
by Yesod, the next Sefirah on the middle path in the descent of the light.
Devorah as a Military General
How the Bible records Devorah’s role: “She led Israel at that time.” It goes
on: “She used to sit under the palm tree of Devorah … and the Israelites
would come to her for judgment.”25 Devorah is a judge of great repute. She
is also a renowned military leader who fights a war of liberation, winning
her people independence. Symbolically, this suggests that when we are free
from the evil inclination, we are liberated. Devorah promotes the war of
liberation from Jabin (Yavin), king of Caanan,26 a war that Joshua
completes several generations later in his battle at Jericho. (It is interesting
that Devorah herself owns property in Jericho.) The great military leader
Barak trusts and desires Devorah’s counsel. While Barak is strongly
admired, he goes to his wife and prophetess Devorah for advice and
support. We learn that Barak makes the following statement to Devorah
regarding the war God tells Devorah they must undertake: “If you go with
me, then I will go.”27 Barak refers to going up to Mt. Tabor to wage war.
Devorah leads this war of rebellion and self-defense. She calls for Barak
to come to her prior to war, an event for which she has been criticized by
Rabbinic scholars. Why, the rabbis ask, should she call for a man to come to
her? Given her pressing life obligations as the sole judge of the people and
as a property owner of enterprises, Devorah is a busy woman. Some critics
have stated that when she calls for her husband to come to her, it is an insult
to all husbands. This analysis evidences itself in centuries of Torah
commentary, and perhaps this too will be broadened with other
interpretations.
Devorah, Barak, and the Just War
All of the prophetesses in the Bible are either married to a great man or
related to one by events, showing the balance of male and female in the life
of the People of the Book. Sarah is known primarily as Abraham’s wife and
Miriam is known as the sister of Aaron and Moses. As we will see, Chanah
is related to the High Priest Eli, and to her son, the prophet Samuel; Avigail
is related to King David; and Chuldah is related to King Josiah. Even
Esther, who saves the Jewish people from Haman’s attempted genocide, is
guided by her relationship to Mordechai. Devorah stands in partnership
with Barak.
A century or so after the Israelites’ entry into Canaan, King Jabin (Yavin)
of Chatzor (Hazor) controls the valley in which Devorah and her tribe live.
During Devorah’s time, we are told, “[t]he children of Israel continued to
do what was evil in the eyes of God, once Ehud died. God delivered them
into the hand of the Yavin, King of Canaan, who reigned in Chatzor. The
children of Israel cried out to God, for [Sisera] had nine hundred iron
chariots, and he oppressed the Children of Israel forcefully for twenty-
years.”28 In the next line in the Torah, we are told: “Devorah was a
Prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth;29 she judged Israel at that time.”
Devorah summons Barak to tell him her prophecy: “God has
commanded, ‘Go and convince [the people to go] toward Mount Tabor, and
take with you ten thousand men from the children of Naphtali and from the
children of Zevulun …”30
Barak’s response to Devorah shows the high esteem in which this
prophetess is held: “If you will go with me, I will go; if not I will not go …
since the divine inspiration rests upon her, in her merit I will be saved and
will suffer no injury.”31 “Very well [indeed], I will go with you,” Devorah
consents; and having already seen in prophecy the reason for their victory
warns him, “[B]ut the path on which you have chosen to go will not be for
your glory, for God will have delivered Sisera into the hand of a woman.”32
Here Devorah, the great female judge and prophetess of Israel, tells the
military general that our victory cannot be predicated on your ego or desire
for retribution. Having been shown the outcome of the war prior to waging
war as instructed by God, Devorah knows how the Canaanite general,
Sisera, will be killed. This ability to look into the future through prophecy is
reflected in the lives of all the prophetesses and similarly in the life of
Avigail, when her words prevent David from doing injury to his royal
bloodline by a revengeful killing.
Because the battle on Mt. Tabor occurs during the rainy season, Sisera’s
chariots become stuck in the mud. The Israelites are able to overwhelm
Hazor’s army and inflict heavy casualties. Sisera, the general, fleeing on
foot, escapes to the Kenite camp, where Yael, the clan leader’s wife, invites
him to stay. He falls asleep in her tent, whereupon Yael lifts a mallet and
drives a tent peg through his head. The famed song of Devorah in Judges 5
(see appendix 1) exults in the breaking of the Canaanite stranglehold over
much of the country: “When vengeances are inflicted upon Israel and the
people dedicates itself to God—Bless God … So may all Your enemies be
destroyed, O God! And let those who love Him be like the powerfully
rising sun. And the land was tranquil for forty years.”33
Devorah’s Song of ProphecyIt is through prophecy and the Ruach HaKodesh that Devorah learns
beforehand of the victory over Sisera. She is shown his mother peering
through the window, wondering why her son has not returned from the
battle. Seeing future events prior to battle, Devorah describes what she has
witnessed. “Through the window the mother of Sisera looked forth and
peered. Why is his chariot so long in coming?”34 The words spoken by
Sisera’s mother are revealed to Devorah through divine inspiration. She
replies, “Wait no longer for your son Sisera, So may all God’s enemies
perish!”35
Devorah’s song of prophecy reflects the purpose of prophecy: to warn of
natural or man-made disasters and to bring the People of the Book back to
Torah and closeness to God. Devorah on the middle pillar, like Esther
below her, is instrumental in preventing the deaths of the Israelites. This
suggests that the middle pillar, which receives the direct emanation of
Keter, the Crown of glory or God, enables prophecy on a level different
from that of the right and left pillars. Here, Devorah as a military leader
uses Gevurah (strength and judgment) as a weapon for victory or Netzach,
the Sefirah following and embodied by Chanah. She reflects awareness of
the covenant with God, Yesod, as the ultimate foundation for victory over
evil.
Physical Liberation
Devorah gives us lessons about physical liberation from tyranny. While
Chanah in Netzach guides us toward spiritual liberation, Devorah,
preceding Chanah historically and Sefirotically, guides us toward physical
liberation from injustice, using both military might (Gevurah), mercy
(Chesed), and legal justice (Tiferet). The war that Devorah and Barak wage
together results in the creation of a city strategy for security: “Unwalled
cities ceased in Israel.”36 “The small towns that had been laid waste in the
days of Sisera became important cities after Devorah arose.”37 This too
suggests that when we are victorious over our evil inclinations, peace
follows.
In Devorah’s time, it was not typical for a woman to lead men into battle,
but Devorah did. Here we see the courage of Miriam brought to a new
plateau of taking back the land that is the Israelites’ to inherit once Miriam
has succeeded in bringing them to the edge of Israel. Now in Israel it is
Devorah who leads them to victory over the Canaanites, who are oppressing
them. It is significant that it is the prophetesses who play such a central role
in Israel’s redemption from the Egyptians, the Canaanites, and, as we will
see with our examination of the life of Esther, the evil of Haman, the
Persian viceroy and reincarnation of Amalek, who killed the weak and
infirm at the rear of the Exodus community as they left Egypt.
Tiferet: Development as Community
As a continuation of our developmental story, we have moved from Sarah’s
seed of loving-kindness to proper boundary-making with Miriam to
Devorah’s action in a moral framework, which shows us how to integrate
all the parts according to a moral order. The war she wages, though an
offensive one, can be called a just war. This lesson from Devorah tells us
that we are obligated to honor the word of God, as she does when she is
instructed to wage war. We have moved beyond simply our own role in the
world to the community’s role in world refinement. From Gevurah, our
entry into Tiferet moves us out into community, into each other’s part in the
whole.
The Six Miracles
On the day that Devorah and Barak commit to waging war to fight against
the Canaanites, “six miracles were wrought that day; the people of Israel
came [to Devorah], she sent [for Barak] and he [mustered troops], they
waged war, Sisera was slain, they divided the spoils, and they sang the song
of Praise—all on the same day.”38 During Sukkot, as we shake in the six
directions the lulav (palm) and other sacred species of the etrog (citron),
myrtle, and willow, we utter a prayer of six components. Tiferet is the
middle of six Sefirot (Chesed through Yesod) called the Son or Zeir Anpin,
and, similar to Tiferet’s expression in these six Sefirot, the Kabbalistic
Sefirot are expressed in the holidays and rituals of the People of the Book.
This deepens our appreciation for Kabbalah as a tool for interpreting the
Torah, leading to self-refinement and the fulfillment of prophecy in the
Torah.
The Merit of the Women
As we see with Miriam and the women who cross the Red Sea and then
sing and dance in celebration, attributing the crossing to God’s strong hand,
which “took us out” of Egypt, Devorah and Chanah are credited with the
greatest praise ever sung to God: “Two women said praises to the Holy
One, Blessed is He, that all the men in the world did not: Devorah and
Chanah.”39
Devorah in victory over the Canaanites and Miriam in victory against the
Egyptians show us their merit. “In the song of Devorah, the women
preceded the men, because here the redemption came through women:
Devorah and Jael.”40 As we have learned in Miriam’s story, her song and
dance reflect creating a vessel below for the light of God to fill. Devorah’s
Hallel repeats this powerful relationship between God above (Keter)
showing mercy (Tiferet, Chesed, and Gevurah) and below, victory
(Netzach) and the humble (Hod) people (Malchut) receiving His blessings.
Hallel represents the Tree of Life rectified, a battle won. Reciting the Hallel
is a spiritual reenactment of a historic event, revealing the power of
commemorative rituals.
Awake, Awake, Devorah!
In Devorah we see a repetition of the complaints by Rabbinic commentators
against Miriam in Gevurah: We are told that “[i]f a Prophet is haughty, his
[her] prophecy departs from him [or her]. We learn this from Devorah [after
she boasted] ‘Until I Arose, Devorah.’41 [Her prophecy departed and she
cried], ‘Awake, awake, Devorah!’”42
Though we can respect that this is a traditional teaching, we might view
the situation differently. Perhaps Devorah’s statement “Awake, Awake!
Devorah” is a declaration she makes as a personal reminder to elevate, to
pay attention, to be entirely present to the Shechinah. Perhaps she makes
the testament “until I arose a Mother in Israel,” which was a true statement,
in order to summon the Shechinah. Perhaps it is not a statement of pride,
but a personal remembering of her divine and animal soul coming together
to serve God.
Given Devorah’s credit for composing the greatest praise of God—
greater, even, than that of King David—why would it be in her nature to be
arrogant? Perhaps what she speaks is true: that until she arose a mother in
Israel, they were not victorious. Perhaps, rather than a statement of pride, it
is spoken to benefit the other women so that they may know their capacity
as leaders, as redeemers, as prophetesses and mothers of Israel. Or perhaps
she is suggesting that until we sacrifice ourselves as mothers for our
children, we will not be victorious. Perhaps Devorah’s words are a
statement of the woman’s role as the vessel in which the awake Shechinah
resides. Perhaps the declaration is about the Shechinah’s presence and is not
intended as a deflation of the male stature, as the Rabbinic commentators
suggest. The criticisms of Devorah’s intent are only several of the seventy
faces of interpretation said to be apportioned to all things. Perhaps, as the
only judge who made decisions and as the leader of a successful military
assault for her people, she declares “arise Shechinah, for you the Shechinah
[the Divine Immanence of the Creator] are the Mother of Israel!”
Perhaps this is revealed in the mystery of Devorah’s name. Calling out
her name summons all the qualities inherent in the name’s power—qualities
that she is obligated by God to embody. Have we not ourselves occasionally
called out our own names to awaken ourselves to mindfulness?
Tiferet as Sukkot
Just as we learned that Sarah and Chesed are associated with a major Jewish
holiday—Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year—and Miriam is associated
with Pesach, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt, Devorah and Tiferet
representthe holiday of Sukkot, the festival of the booths. The mitzvah of
dwelling in the sukkah and the rituals performed there involve our entire
bodies.
The eight-day holiday of Sukkot commemorates the protection that the
Creator gave B’nai Yisrael in the wilderness. The sukkah itself honors
God’s protective mercy, the hovering cloud, an attribute associated with the
Sefirah of Tiferet. While a temporary dwelling with a “roof” through which
we must be able to see the stars, the sukkah is a dwelling place of the
Shechinah, a place the Ruach HaKodesh can inhabit.
During Sukkot, the mitzvot include shaking in six directions the
combined native species of Israel. Its four ceremonial elements or “four
species” are from the land of Israel: the etrog (lemonlike citron), a palm
branch (lulav), two myrtle (hadassim), and three willow branches (aravot),
all of which are regulated by several overriding principles. Each species
used in ritual in the sukkah should be as beautiful as possible and in its
whole, natural state. Because the elements will be unified, each must be
complete in itself, instructing us about our own self-refinement and its
importance in the world. The myrtle (hadassim) represent the eyes and
wisdom and the Sefirah of Chochmah; the aravot (willow branches with
their leaves) represent the mouth (Malchut) or Kingdom; the etrog
represents the heart (Tiferet and Binah); and the lulav (palm branch) is the
spine or middle pillar of the Etz Chayim, connecting all elements and
integrating and elevating the body, mind, and soul in their attachment to
God. The lulav itself is the tallest element around which the others revolve,
like the letter Lamed in the Alef-Bet, the letter that begins the word lulav. It
teaches us suppleness and strength, flexibility and order. As we perform the
prayer of the six directions, suggesting Tiferet’s center in the six Sefirot of
the middot (emotions), the directions in space that we consecrate each of
the days of Sukkot suggest that our head (Keter, Chochmah, Binah) and
arms and legs (Chesed, Gevurah, Netzach, and Hod) carry out the will of
the heart (etrog).
Tiferet and the Structure of Time
In his book The Palm Tree of Devorah, the Ramak teaches that Tiferet is the
place of beautification and harmonization, the place where the soul is seated
in unity with Malchut and Yesod (the other Sefirot on the middle pillar,
below Tiferet). The Ramak’s treatise supplies Sefirotic affiliations for the
parts of the day:
On rising at midnight, he should wash his hands of the kelipah (evil)
that dominates them, remove the evil from his flesh, and recite the
blessing. He should then restore the Shechinah through Torah study.
About this, it is written (Mishlei 6:22), “when you lie down, it will
guard you” from the forces of evil, and “when you awaken, it will
speak with you” and be bound to you, and you to it. Then, his soul will
rise to Gan Eden together with the Shechinah, which enters there with
the righteous. Tiferet will also come there to delight with the righteous,
and with him in their company, for they all listen to his voice. This
way, a person journeys together with the Shechinah from a state of
sleep and death to the secret of Supernal Life, where he becomes
bound up in the mystery of Gan Eden, and Tiferet, which shines upon
the righteous in Gan Eden, begins to Shine upon him. This is the
explanation of the Zohar on “Terumah.”43
The illumination from the Sefirah of Tiferet is the light that emanates to
the righteous in their nightly ascension through prayer and meditation.
Tiferet is the place from which the Creator emanates the “shine of
righteousness”—the beauty of moral behavior, thought, and contemplation.
Righteousness is the source of peace among a person’s body, mind, and
soul, its glory and its splendor.
In The Palm Tree of Devorah, the Ramak also presents a set of keys to
understanding the Torah and its commandments. The Ramak is of Spanish
descent and originally from Cordovero, Italy. His work on the Sefirot and
the prophetesses shows up in a sefer (book) authored by his benefactor and
student, Menachem DeFano, whose contribution has already been cited
here. It is Cordovero who teaches the correspondences between the seven
Sefirot and the seven prophetesses, as was shown to me in my sukkah
revelation map in 2004 (5762). His work applies the thirteen attributes of
mercy mentioned in Micah (7:18–20), which are analyzed in detail in his
book The Palm Tree of Devorah. Their primary purpose is to teach B’nai
Yisrael the importance of emulating the Creator. “It is proper for man to
emulate His Creator, for then he will attain the secret of the Supernal Form
in both image (Tzelem) and likeness (Demut) … thus it is proper that man’s
actions imitate the Thirteen Supernal Attributes of Mercy.”44
We are encouraged to read and study the beautiful holy book of Micah
during the ten days between the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, when Chesed
opens the gates to life, and Yom Kippur, when the world (Malchut) is
judged and the book of life is sealed for the coming year. The sages teach us
that by doing this, we rectify one Sefirah each day until all ten days and all
ten Sefirot have been properly understood and reflected within us. The
thirteen attributes of mercy are primary keys to the secrets of Tiferet.
Together, they are a tool for our revelation in Gan Eden (Garden of Eden)
now and in the World to Come, for they are the attributes accorded a
merciful Creator, in whose image we are made and whom we are instructed
to emulate.
Thirteen Attributes of Mercy45
1. Who is a God like you,
2. Who pardons iniquity and
3. overlooks (forgives) transgression, for the
4. remnant of His heritage?
5. He does not maintain his wrath (anger) forever,
6. for He desires (delights in) kindness.
7. He will once again show us mercy (compassion),
8. he will suppress (vanquish) our iniquities.
9. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
10. Grant (show) truth (faithfulness) to Jacob,
11. kindness to Abraham,
12. as you swore to our forefathers
13. in days of old.
The Ramak then goes on to describe how each part of the day has a
particular Sefirotic attribute instructing faithful adherents about the benefits
of becoming aware of the Sefirot and their attachment to certain parts of the
daily prayer cycle. When we become aware of this and use this pattern in
our lives as a source of understanding, we can align a proper action with its
proper or natural time. Through this conscious alignment, we become more
like the Creator: Our waking and sleeping life are bound up in devotion to
God.
“At dawn, he prepares to enter the Beit Knesset, binding himself to the
three Patriarchs. At the entrance to the Beit Knesset, he should recite the
verse, ‘And I, through your abundant kindness, come in to your house; I
bow toward your holy sanctuary in awe of you.’”46 We merge ourselves
with the secret of Tiferet, for we comprise Chesed, Gevurah, and Tiferet,
and we enter the Beit Knesset (which is Malchut) and meditate with the
qualities of the three patriarchs when reciting this verse:
“Your abundant kindness” corresponds to Abraham. “I bow toward
your holy sanctuary” corresponds to Yitzchak, for bowing—that is,
lowering our stature toward the attribute of judgment and allowing
ourselves to be pushed aside by it—comes from the aspect of
Yitzchak. Then our prayer will be at a propitious time, for the outflow
of compassion will be drawn downward upon this attribute to sweeten
it. “In awe of you,” corresponds to Jacob, who said, “How awesome is
this place …”47
The Ramak continues to show the student how the day itself has certain
Kabbalistic potentials. “For in the morning he binds himself to Chesed in
his prayers, during the day to Tiferet, and towards evening Gevurah.
Coming to the Beit Knesset to perform the mystical unification of Gevurah,
just as he does in the morning prayer with Chesed. All this is according to
the quality of the ‘day.’”48
Ending this section of The Palmhis
setting up of the Tabernacle on his own and the carrying of the colossal
stone tablets. His wealth from the remnants of the tablets, which were his to
keep, the material being sapphire. How do we know that Moses was wise?
Rav and Shmuel both say: Fifty gates of wisdom were created in this world,
and all but one was given to Moses, for it says, “You have made him
[Moses] slightly less than the angels, and crowned him with soul and
splendor” (Psalms 8:6). In Numbers 12:3, we are told that “Now the man
Moses was exceedingly humble.”25 A spiritual vision proceeds from sincere
humility.
WHO WAS A PROPHETOR PROPHETESS?
In the Kabbalistic writings, the woman is endowed by the Creator with
extra Binah, the capacity for understanding, making it possible for
numerous women to have divine insight, but only seven women are called
prophetesses: “… Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Chanah, Avigail, Chuldah and
Esther.”27 Only those whose record of prophecy is written in holy works of
the Tanach (the Five Books of Moses or the Torah, the Prophets, and
Writings) and whose texts of attestation are apparent and whom the Torah
and other holy writings identify as being so are prophetesses. While the
matriarchs and other women showed the ability to perceive what was
unseen and in some instances communicated with God’s messengers, they
are not called prophetesses. Finally, prophetesses (and prophets) were
judged by the people for their clarity and explanations of what they had
seen or been told, and, most important, by whether their prophecies came
true.
TIME LINE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK26
Time in World History
(Gregorian Calendar)
Historical Age Occurrence for People of the
Book
8000–4000 BCE Neolithic period 3761 BCE: creation of the
world
3150–2900 BCE Early Bronze Age 1
2900–2600 BCE Early Bronze Age 2
2600–2300 BCE Early Bronze Age 3
2200–1950 BCE Middle Bronze Age 1 2000–1500 BCE: pre-Exodus
1950–1550 BCE Middle Bronze Age 2
1550–1400 BCE Late Bronze Age 1 1500–1200 BCE: Egypt,
Exodus
1400–1200 BCE Late Bronze Age 2
1200–1000 BCE Iron Age 1 1200–1050 BCE: Hebrew
settlements in the land of Israel
1000–586 BCE Iron Age 2 1050–920 BCE: period of kings
586 BCE: destruction of the
First Temple
536–142 BCE Persian and Hellenistic
Age
516 BCE:dedication of the
completion of the Second
Temple
The Jewish calendar in use today, according to tradition, was adopted by
Adam HaRishon (Adam, the first man) and passed down through the ages.
It places the creation of the world in 3761 BCE and the creation of Adam
and Eve on the sixth day of Creation. The lives of the seven Jewish
prophetesses span fifteen hundred years, beginning with Sarah’s life (1802–
1675 BCE) in the Middle Bronze Age and ending with Esther’s life (ca.
420–355 BCE) in the Persian period. The year 2008 CE is comparable to
the year 5768 on the Jewish calendar.28
THE ROLE OF PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES IN THE
COMMUNITY
The biblical people turned to their prophets and prophetesses to know God’s
will for their own lives. These visionaries made communication possible
with the one God. Highly treasured by commoner and king alike, the
prophets were spiritual nobility; they were mystics who had good insights
and were wise and who reasoned well. Their very presence was as much a
part of their role as the teachings that were given through them. The
prophets and prophetesses told the future, pointed to the dangers of past and
present, and gave others hope and faith in the meaning of life. They helped
interpret both world affairs and personal predicaments. They were the holy
speakers, the mouthpieces of the Creator who were selected by God alone
but who were tested by humans: They were judged by whether their
prophecies came to be.
TIME LINE OF THE SEVEN PROPHETESSES
Event Jewish Calendar29 Gregorian Calendar
Sarah    
Birth–death 1958–2085 1802–1675 BCE, Middle
Bronze Age
Birth of Yitzchak 2048 1712 BCE
Miriam
Birth–death 2362–2487 1398–1273 BCE, Late Bronze
Age
Exodus from Egypt 2448 1312 BCE
People of the Book enter the
land of Israel
2488 1272 BCE
Devorah
Period of rule 2636–2676 1124–1084 BCE, Iron Age 1
Chanah
Birth 2702 1058 BCE, Iron Age 2
Prayer at Shiloh 2831 929 BCE
Birth of Shmuel 2832 928 BCE
Avigail
David (birth–death) 2854–2924 906–836 BCE, Iron Age 2
David’s rule 2884–2924 876–836 BCE
Chuldah
Prophecy 3303 457 BCE, monarchical period,
Iron Age 2
Esther
Feast of Achashverosh 3395 365 BCE, Persian period
Esther crowned 3398 362 BCE
Queen
Purim 3405 355 BCE
The Rambam describes how a prophet’s reliability was tested:
Therefore, if a person whose [progress] in the service of God makes
him fit for prophecy arises [and claims to be a Prophet]—if he does not
intend to add [to] or diminish [the Torah], but rather to serve God
through the Mitzvot [divine Commandments] of Torah—we don’t tell
him: “split the sea for us, revive the dead, or the like, and then we will
believe in you.” Instead we tell him, “If you are a Prophet, tell us what
will happen in the future.” He makes his statements and we wait to see
whether [his prophecy] comes to fruition or not. Should even a minute
particular of his “prophecy” not materialize, he is surely a false
Prophet. If his entire prophecy materializes, we should consider him a
true [Prophet].30
A prophet’s negative edicts were listened to if he was reliable in past
positive predictions, yet people were not to change their lives based on a
negative prophetic edict unless they were in counsel with the sages of the
time. Teshuvah, repentance and change of our conduct, can nullify negative
predictions.
In addition to tests of accuracy given in order for a person to secure the
title of prophet, when an accepted prophet declared another person a
prophet—as Moses did Joshua—the people are to accept the designated
prophet.31 Also, “once a Prophet has made known his prophecy, and his
words have proven true time after time, if he continues in the path of
prophecy, it is forbidden to doubt him or to question the truth of his
prophecy.”32 In addition, a prophet was forbidden “to disregard his own
prophecy … [or] to withhold a public message entrusted to him by God. If a
Prophet does either, he is worthy of death.”33
RUACH HAKODESH
During the time period in which all seven prophetesses lived (1850 BCE–
350 BCE), prophecy was relevant in culture. Often, the prophetic talent ran
in family lines, yet not all prophets were of equal ability.34
For prophets, the primary purpose of exercises and training in meditation,
including the repetition of divine names and the chanting of psalms and
prayers, was to “isolate the mind from both internal and external thought,
leaving it perfectly clear to receive divine influx.”35 While these practices
“were helpful, divine inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh) could be attained
without them, merely through incessant and fervent study of the Torah. It
could also be attained through deep meditation in prayer.” As we will see
with the prophetesses, Ruach HaKodesh (also called the Holy Spirit, which
can manifest as the divine voice) often comes “automatically through a
great act of faith or from the observance of a commandment in utter joy.”36
Divine inspiration is the level of prophecy just above divine guidance.
(The Talmud equates divine inspiration with Ruach HaKodesh.) Through
Ruach HaKodesh, though a lower level than prophecy itself, an individual
“can be aware of future events, as well as other people’s thoughts.”37
The last chapter of this book explores prophecy in detail as it pertains to
the Shechinah, the Divine Immanence of the Creator. Without the Divine
Immanence, prophecy cannot occur. Described in feminine terms and called
the Bride, the Daughter of the King, and the Queen of Israel, the Shechinah
is not a separate divine feminine presence in Judaism as expressed in many
other religions’ theologies. Rather, the Shechinah signifies the indwelling
presence or Divine Immanence of the Creator Himself. The Shechinah is
one aspect of the Creator when HisTree of Devorah, the Ramak reminds us
that after …
… the time of afternoon prayer has passed, and he has been bound to
Gevurah, he should wait for night, until Tiferet descends to Malchut.
Thus, he is with Malchut from the beginning of the night. He should
bind himself to Malchut and enter the Beit Knesset with this intention.
As he binds himself below, Tiferet comes to its place of lodging. When
he exits the Beit Knesset, he should unite himself with Malchut alone,
according to the secret of accepting the Yoke of the Kingdom of
Heaven.49
Just as each prophetess brings a Sefirotic quality and developmental
stage of unfoldment to the generation of which she is part, so too are these
brought to history—the time of day, the day of the week, the month of the
year, the year in the millennium. Each is a building block of correspondence
from heaven to earth, fulfilling the maxim “As above, so below.”
All these actions—binding ourselves to the Creator through one or
various faculties and deeds—comprise what in Chassidut are called
collectively “the garments of the soul.” Devorah with Tiferet is where the
kingdom is united and Gan Eden is entered. “This is how a person merges
himself with these qualities in thought, speech and action, for thought is the
meditation … Speech is reciting the verse, and action is coming to the Beit
Knesset and bowing towards the sanctuary.”50
Tiferet and the Six Dimensions
The People of the Book teach that there are ten categories of existence from
nothingness through which all life is ushered by the Creator. These
categories, corresponding to the ten Sefirot of the Etz Chayim, include the
spirit of the living God, air, water, and fire, which were sealed “with spirit
and fastened to His great name and sealed with six dimensions.”51 This
relationship is summarized thus: “These are the ten spheres of existence out
of nothing. From the spirit of the living God emanated air, from air, water,
from water, fire or ether, from the ether the height and the depth, the East
and West, the North and South.”52
Tiferet as an expression of six Sefirot brought into harmonious balance
(Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod) demonstrates the created
world’s unification of parts. During the Sukkot holiday, we are directed to
shake the elements that are united in our two hands—the etrog, lulav,
willow, and myrtle—three times in all six directions, equaling a total of
thirty-six movements. Knowing that movement of the limbs inspires the
heart and vice versa, we can see how this ritual can be viewed as a
Kabbalistic formula for invoking the Ruach HaKodesh in our ohel (tent)
and in our heart, the Holy of Holies in the Temple of ourselves. This
formula is why, in the ritual, the etrog (heart) is held in one hand and united
with the other three elements (the eyes, the mouth, and the spine or will),
and why these are dedicated to the six direction of space, which come from
the elements air, water, and fire.
GEMATRIA
Phrases Related to Tiferet
judge, judgment Shin (300) Pey (80) Tet (9) = 389
The soul seeks justice, longing for the balance of all the parts. The
Hebrew word at the root of judgment means to judge, to create order and
harmony.53 The root letters personify Tiferet readily when seen in this way.
If we study other words and phrases that equal 389, we garner additional
clues to the nature of justice and judgment, as we would using the technique
Stones and Houses, explained in appendix 2.54
truth (emet): Alef (1) Mem (40) Tav (400) = 441
Truth, or emet in Hebrew, is another word associated with describing the
Sefirot of Tiferet, because it refers to the severity of din (judgment),
discernment in Gevurah, and the boundless outpouring of love in Chesed,
combined with judgment leaning toward mercy. Tiferet produces truth
based on merit.
The first letter in emet is Alef, the beginning of the Hebrew alphabet,
followed by Mem, in the middle of the Alef-Bet, and Tav, the final letter of
the Alef-Bet. Truth therefore comprises the beginning, middle, and end of
all things. So too, Tiferet contains within itself the beginning, the middle,
and the end of the Tree of Life, the Etz Chayim. The middle path leads to
truth.
The word emet first appears in Genesis 24:48, when we encounter
Elazar, Abraham’s servant who has gone to seek a wife for Abraham’s son,
Isaac. Elazar recounts that it is God who “led me to take the daughter of my
master’s brother for his son.” This moment revolves around the finding of
Rebecca, who replaces Sarah (Chesed) as the female guardian of the holy
light of Israel. We find truth when we follow God’s lead. In Exodus 7:4, the
phrase by judgments Bet (2) Shin (300) Pey (80) Tet (9) Yod (10)
 Mem (40) = 441), equal in value to the word truth, refers to the judgment
that comes out of the forty days and forty nights of the Flood in Noah’s
time, reflecting the period of twelve months in which Noah’s generation is
judged.
Other words and phrases with the same numeric value of emet (truth,
441) and Torah (which is called “the truth,” 611) are:
them (Genesis 1:17): Alef (1) Tav (400) Mem (40) = 441
This refers to the setting of the sun and moon, the luminaries in the sky,
giving us day and night, two opposites that combine to produce life on
earth.
Torah Tav (400) Vav (6) Reish (200) Hay (5) = 611
Torah’s purpose is to help guide humanity in its journey toward
perfection. Moral and ethical conduct is the foundation on which this
accomplishment is built. Torah itself can be thought of as Tiferet.
The word Torah appears first in Exodus 12:49, when the Law (Torah) is
given to B’nai Yisrael: “one law shall there be for the native and the
proselyte who lives among you.” The same Law is for everyone, the
cornerstone of a just society. Another word equal to the value of the word
Torah is apron, which refers to Adam and Eve making aprons to cover
their nakedness,55 suggesting that following the Law requires modesty. Also
equaling the numeric value of the word Torah:
is bound up (Genesis 44:30): Kof (100) Shin (300) Vav (6) 
Reish (200) Hay (5) = 611
This describes how Jacob’s (Israel’s) soul (which represents Tifereta a
Sefirah) and that of his youngest son, Benjamin, are bound up in each other.
If Joseph forces his brothers to return to their father, Jacob, without his
youngest son, their father will die. Each generation’s soul is connected to
the that of the prior generation. Torah remains in the soul of every
generation. Torah, God, and the Jewish people are inseparable. Tiferet
contains within its Sefirah the truth of Torah as the Law for everyone. It is
this Law that brings beauty and moral order to the world. Devorah, the third
prophetess of Israel, accomplishes this.
65: The Numeric Value of Hallel
Halle Hay (5) Lamed (30) Lamed (30) = 65
The Hallel (praise) is the declaration Devorah and Barak make as a
prayer after Sisera attacks. The declaration “Not to us God, not to us, but to
your Name give Glory” is the entreaty of total self-nullification, the
prerequisite to prophecy, as discussed more fully in chapter 10.
Devorah and Barak recite Hallel prior to the commencement of the war
against the Canaanites. “They said, ‘Not to us, God, not to us, but to your
Name give Glory.’”56 The spirit of holiness replies, “For my sake, I will do
it.”57 This event reveals the importance of the earlier instances of the
prophets’ or the people’s ability to hear the voice of God, and that prophecy
is for the well-being of all of Israel.
The Hallel is said on all the major holidays except those of judgment
(Yom Kippur, Pesach, Purim) and after major events of being delivered
from evil. The full Hallel is “recited on 18 days each year in the land of
Israel: [Note that 18 is the number representing the word for “life,” Chai—
 Chet (8) Yod (10)] on the eight days of Sukkot, the eight days of
Chanukah, both days of Shavuot, and the first day of Passover. It is
generally recited in the morning service before the Amidah (the standing
prayer of Praise)and the reading of the Law (… the Torah portion of the
day).”58 Like the blessing on the wine, which precedes all the other foods,
the Hallel precedes the other elements of praise prior to the reading of
Torah.59
Looking in The Spice of Torah—Gematria, we find many words suggesting
locations, tools, and aspects of praise:60
the high Hay (5) Gimel (3) Bet (2) Hay (5) Yod (10) 
Mem (40) = 65
the south (negev): Hay (5) Nun (50) Gimel (3) Bet (2) Hay
(5) = 65
Lord, my Lord (master) Adonai Alef (1) Dalet (4) Nun (50) 
Yod (10) = 65
mandrakes (violets, jasmine): Dalet (4) Vav (6) Dalet (4) 
Alef (1) Yod (10) Mem (40) = 65
staff (rod): Vav (6) Hay (5) Mem (40) Tet (9) Hay (5) = 65
its vessels Caf (20) Lamed (30) Yod (10) Hay (5) = 65
have power Hay (5) Yod (10) Caf (20) Lamed (30) = 65
your might Mem (40) Alef (1) Dalet (4) Caf (20) = 65
As ordained by the prophets, Hallel is said in times of deliverance from
national peril. Tradition teaches that the Hallel’s five psalms are selected for
this purpose because they contain five fundamental elements from the
living experience of the People of the Book: the Exodus, the splitting of the
Red Sea, the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, the future resuscitation of the
dead, and the promise of the coming of Moshiach.61 In Devorah as Tiferet,
we see how all aspects of the primary beliefs of the People of the Book
commingle. This is evidenced in part by the recitation of Hallel after the
victory over Sisera just as it is recited by Moses and Israel, who sing Hallel
after their victory over the pharaoh and the Egyptian army; by Joshua for
his victory at Jericho; by Esther and Mordechai when Haman rises against
them; and by others in their efforts to overcome an enemy of B’nai
Yisrael.62
70: The Numeric Value of Sacramental Wine
Tiferet represents the species of grape that is the source of wine used in all
ritual blessings, whether at a marriage, birth, wedding ceremony, Holy Day
celebration, or on Shabbat, and the blessing on the “Creator’s fruit of the
vine” that precedes all eating and drinking and the blessing on the bread on
Shabbat. The wine and the Bracha (blessing) over the wine offer us other
clues about Devorah and the Sefirah of Tiferet.
Wine Yod (10) Yod (10) Nun (50) = 70
Some say that wine, representative of the Sanhedrin during the time of
the Temple, can help elevate the heart to kindness and wise insight.
Sod (secret or counsel): Samech (60) Vav (6) Dalet (4) = 70
This word has the same numeric value as wine made from grapes.
Tradition says, “[A]s soon as wine goes in, counsel and discernment perish.
But the person who keeps a cool head while drinking does not lose his
discernment and has the characteristics of the seventy elders.”63 According
to Ein Yaakov, “R. Ila’I said: There are three things by which you can tell
whether a person has a decent character: by his cup (if his mind is at ease
after he drank wine), by his purse (by the way he deals in money matters),
and by his anger (if he controls his temper.) Some say by his laughter too.”64
In the Perek Shira, in which all the species associated with the Sefirot
except the olive have their own song, the song of the grape is: “Thus says
God: When the wine is found in a cluster, and someone says, ‘Do not
destroy it, because there is blessing in it,’ so will I do for My servants, not
to destroy everything.”65
The Four Species of Sukkot Represent the Name of the Creator
In Kabbalah the four species used during Sukkot each represent a letter in
the name of God: aravah (willow) is Yod (10), lulav is Hay (5), hadas
(myrtle) is Vav (6), and etrog is the final Hay (5).
Miriam shows us that repentance (teshuvah) reunites the Father (Yod or
Chochmah and wisdom) and the Mother (the first Hay or Binah) with the
Son (Vav or Zeir Anpin) and the Daughter (the final Hay or Malchut). In
this same way, the ritual of the four elements in the sukkah reflect the name
of the Creator and the unification of the family in which all aspects of the
community and ourselves are celebrated in joy on Sukkot. This entire
family or all of B’nai Yisrael can, by performing the mitzvah of Sukkot in
total joy, come into rapport with God through the prophetic spirit of the
Ruach HaKodesh associated with the sukkah itself. Personal experience
confirms this truth.
68: The Numeric Value of Lulav (Palm Branch)
lulav Lamed (30) Vav (6) Lamed (30) Bet (2) = 68
The palm tree has long been considered the sign of the tzaddik (righteous
Torah scholar), who learns and teaches others. This is one of Devorah’s
symbols, because her place of administering justice in the community is
under a palm tree. As the source of the ceremonial lulav (palm branch) used
in Sukkot, it stands for an erect yet supple spine whose branches, when
shaken close to the ear, sound like a bird in flight, suggesting the spirit of
God (Ruach HaKodesh) in our midst and in the sukkah itself.
Figure 5.1. Palm tree, west coast of Israel, Jaffa.
wise Chet (8) Caf (20) Mem (40) = 68
This word, representing the Sefirah of Chochmah,66 is equal in value to
the lulav, the tallest of the four species of Sukkot ritual. As the middle pillar
of our anatomy, the spine also suggests Devorah’s centrality to the people of
Israel. (She is a wise woman who sits under the palm tree.)
shall lead (Deuteronomy 4:27): Yod (10) Nun (50) Hay (5) 
Gimel (3) = 68
This refers to God leading the people into exile for their failure to live a
Torah-based life.
prophet (Deuteronomy 13:4): Hay (5) Nun (50) Bet (2) Yod
(10) Alef (1) = 68
This word as used counsels the people not to follow the words of a false
prophet. Devorah sitting under the palm tree and judging Israel embodies
wisdom, leadership, and unity.
376: The Numeric Value of Shalom
peace (shalom): Shin (300) Lamed (30) Vav (6) Mem (40) =
376
Tiferet, as the place of meeting, like the Tent of Meeting and the sukkah
on Sukkot, also called the Tabernacle of Booths, is the source of peace for
the year. Shalom habayit, peace in the home, is a treasured quality. The
gematria for the word shalom tells us everything we need to know about
Tiferet as the place where peace is made.
I will make or do (Genesis 2:18): Alef (1) Ayin (70) Shin (300)
 Hay (5) = 376.
The Creator decides that it is not right for Adam to be alone. “God said,
‘It is not good that man be alone; I will make him a helper corresponding to
him.” Peace in the home is found in the creation of Eve. Peace arises from
the partnership between man and woman and is at the root of the
relationship between the created and the Creator.
from his youth (Genesis 8:21): Mem (40) Nun (50) Ayin (70) 
 Reish (200) Yod (10) Vav (6) = 376
God promises: “[I] will not continue to curse again the ground because of
man, since the imagery of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I
again continue to smite every living being as I have done. Continuously, all
the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and
winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Esau (Esav): Ayin (70) Shin (300) Vav (6) = 376
As a hidden teaching of shalom (peace) connected to Tiferet, we can note
the list of partnered opposites. Esau, first appearing prior to the birth of his
brother Jacob, with whom he fights much of his life, suggests that the
ultimate peace achieved between brothers is essential to peace in the
world.67
The word peace itself appears just prior to Jacob meeting Rachel at the
well.68 The well is often the place where the Israelites find their mates:
Elazar (Abraham’s servant) finds Rebecca; Moses meets Tzipporah. Water,
like wisdom, is hidden (in the ground) and must be drawn to the surface.
“The Wisdom of women builds her home.”69 In this moment in Torah,
Elazar is asking if it is well with Laban: “[A]nd they said, ‘It is well
[shalom] and see—his daughter Rachel’s coming with the flock.’”70
Shalom is also promised by the Creator as the outcome of Torah for the
individual,for Israel, and for the world. In Uktzin, the final chapter of the
Aggudut of the Talmud, it is written, “… the Talmud points out the
heavenly rewards that [are] in store for those who diligently and reverently
[study] the Torah.” In Uktzin we learn the great insight of R. Shimon ben
Chalafta: “The Holy one, blessed be he, found no vessel that could hold His
blessing for Israel except peace, as it says, ‘God will give might to His
nation, God will bless His nation with peace.’”71 According to Ein Yaakov,
“Tosafot Yom Tov explains: God wants to restore strength and might on his
people. How does he accomplish this? By blessing them with peace. For the
entire blessing in the world will endure only if there is shalom. Shalom,
peace, truly is the most fitting ending of the Talmud.”72
217: The Numeric Value of Devorah
Devorah Dalet (4) Bet (2) Vav (6) Reish (200) Hay (5) =
217
As we have learned so far, in Tiferet the parts are joined and opposites
harmonize; moral order is established and truth and peace are made
possible. These are the hallmarks of Tiferet and Devorah.
Summarizing each of the polarities mentioned in the Parshiot included
here, we see that Tiferet and Devorah are proved as the scales of justice, our
experienced closeness to or distance from the Creator, the skill of
identifying what forces are operating in any given situation, knowing what
is blessed and what is not, and knowing what is holy and what is unholy.
Concealed in the name of the third prophetess are day and night, life and
death, blessing and no blessing, hail and no hail, darkness and illumination,
divine presence and the absence of the divine presence, and curse and
blessing. There is no ambiguity in any of these parts identified in the
Parshiot, and in all of them, it is clear that God’s presence is made manifest.
These polarities found in words equal to Devorah’s name and hidden story
show us that justice harmonizes light and dark, day and night, blessings and
no blessings—opposites are distinct, with different purposes, their balance
requisite to prophecy, beauty, and truth. We should assume that the process
of judgment leading to justice, truth, glory, and peace is the presence of the
divine Shechinah, which explains why Devorah is the only judge who
actually judges or makes decisions and why she does so. The Shechinah, as
Barak makes clear, rests with Devorah.
In Devorah (the Sefirah of Tiferet); in the torso (where the heart is
housed); and in beauty, truth, and peace, there is the ability to hold
opposites in balance. Tiferet does this and brings the kingdom to glory. We
see that the divine presence is with Devorah, just as it is in the fire of glory
before B’nai Yisrael. We also learn that the order in which things must be
done is precise and with purpose. The Parshiot point us to the purity of
differences and the ability to distinguish clearly among our natures: among
Jacob (Judaism), Ishmael (Islam), Esau (Christianity); between freedom
from our stubbornness (Pharaoh) and being set free (Moses); between
traveling with God’s glory and traveling in the darkness of ego; between
being beset by plagues of evil and being free from them. If we participate in
ritual service, the Shechinah can be received. All of these qualities tell us
about justice and beauty and why we should not tremble before anyone. The
judgment is ultimately God’s.
Just as we have done with Sarah and Miriam, let us close with the
Parshiot concealed in Devorah’s name. The following words and
expressions have the numeric value of 217. Here is an interesting
assortment of references between opposites, just as Devorah the judge
determines what is right and wrong, who is guilty or innocent, and the
proper restoration or tikkun (repair) to facilitate the elevation of the sparks
in every situation.
saw (looked, beheld, Genesis 1:4–5): Vav (6) Yod (10) Reish
(200) Alef (1) = 217
Genesis 1:4–5: “God saw that the light was good, and God separated
between the light and the darkness—God called to the light: ‘Day’ and to
the darkness he called: ‘Night.’ And there was evening and there was
morning, one day.” Here the two parts that make a twenty-four-hour period,
day and night, are brought into balance as life principles in all of creation.
on dry (dried) land (Genesis 7:22): Bet (2) Chet (8) Reish
(200) Bet (2) Hay (5) = 217
“All in whose nostril was the breath of the spirit of life, of everything that
was on dried land, died.” All things on the earth are dying. We learn of life
and death, the two parts that make for the body and soul experience,
mortality and immortality, respectively.
fear (wonder, perplexity, Genesis 27:33): Chet (8) Reish (200) 
Dalet (4) Hay (5) = 217
“Then Isaac trembled in very great perplexity, and said ‘Who– where–is
the one who hunted game, brought it to me, and I partook of all when you
had not yet come, and I blessed him? Indeed, he shall remain blessed.’” In
this instance the story of Esau and Jacob is highlighted, showing us the
mysterious way in which the Creator can make His presence known and can
establish justice. In this case, the younger son, Jacob, instead of the eldest,
Esau, receives their father’s blessing of lineage. The older but cruder elder
son receives a blessing, but not inheritance. Awe of God renders the proper
judgment.
and the hail (Exodus 9:29): Vav (6) Hay (5) Bet (2) Reish
(200) Dalet (4) = 217
Here, another coupling of opposites is evident: hail and no hail. Moses
tells the pharaoh (after the seventh plague of hail): “When I leave the city I
shall spread out my hands to God; the thunder will cease and the hail will
no longer be, so that you shall know that the earth is God’s.” As the Ramak
teaches us, Tiferet is the entry to Gan Eden. Because the heart is housed in
the torso, like the Torah in the Ark, it is bound to the Creator, who opens the
door to supernal wisdom (Chochmah). The entire world is determined by
this closeness to or distance from the Creator. Hail, frozen water, is a
judgment or Gevurah, as we learned in the chapter on Miriam. Running
water, Chesed, is its opposite. Here, as Devorah teaches us, wisdom is
rooted in our faith in God.
and it gave light (illuminated, Exodus 14:20): Vav (6) Yod (10) 
Alef (1) Reish (200) = 217
“It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel and there
were cloud and darkness—while it illuminated the night—and one did not
draw near the other all night.” In this instance, we learn of the illumination
of the camp of Israel by the presence of the Creator and of the lack of light
in the Egyptian camp. Here, too, opposites are combined in the epic
narrative. Darkness and illumination are highlighted. As story elements, this
occurs just prior to the splitting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21) when
“Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and God moved the sea with a
strong east wind all the night, and he turned the sea to damp land and the
water split.… And the water was a wall for them on their left and on their
right …” We are once again shown the Creator’s hand in everything from a
hovering cloud to splitting the Red Sea to stopping the hail. Likewise,
Tiferet as justice teaches us that the vital challenge is to distinguish between
good and evil and right and wrong in all actions, thoughts, and events. This
is also why Tiferet can represent free will, the choice between good and
evil.
and shall appear (will appear, Leviticus 9:6): Vav (6) Yod (10) 
Reish (200) Alef (1) = 217
Moses said, “[T]his is the thing that God has commanded you to do; then
the glory of God will appear to you.” Glory is Hod, as we will see in the
upcoming chapter on Avigail. Aaron and his sons remain in the Tent of
Meeting for seven days while Moses inaugurates the priestly service by
erecting and deconstructing the Tabernacle and performing the service
himself during that time. He is told to do this in order for the heavenly fire
to descend. This descending fire refers to the Shechinah. In this instance,
B’nai Yisrael is beingshown that the Creator fulfills His promise when we
do our part, and He unites with us through the presence of the Shechinah, as
we will see in chapter 10. Thus Tiferet has the capacity to bring down the
Shechinah so that she rests in the Tabernacle of the Temple of our hearts.
is accursed (Numbers 22:6): Yod (10) Vav (6) Alef (1) Reish
(200) = 217
Balak (son of Tzippor, king of Moab), who dislikes the Israelites, calls to
Balaam (a Mesopotamian prophet): “So now, please come and curse this
people for me, for it is too powerful for me; perhaps I will be able to strike
it and drive it away from the land. For I know that whomever you bless and
whomever you curse is accursed.” In this famous scene, we learn that
Balak’s evil intention is remedied by the fact that Balaam instead blesses
Israel. We are also shown that God uses nature to try to stop us from putting
ourselves at risk. The she-donkey Balaam is riding is stopped three times by
angels; and later, when God opens the mouth of the donkey who speaks to
Balaam asking why he has beat the donkey, Balaam realizes God’s purpose
and blesses Israel. Here, just as the judge must hear the case and apply the
law, life too is revealed as having either a curse or a blessing.
SUMMARIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVORAH
Tiferet, the central point through which five of the other Sefirot and
prophetesses are connected, should show signs of qualities from each of the
other Sefirah. It is in part for this reason that the blessings after the meal are
associated with Devorah, for Tiferet distributes nourishment (elements) to
all parts of the body, making Tiferet the proper Sefirah for Birchat Hamazon
(blessings said after a meal).73
In the chapter on Sarah, we learn of planting the seed of creation. In the
prophetess Devorah we see the community tended to in her tireless service
as judge. In Miriam we see the action of teshuvah and repentance; in
Devorah we see leadership in her song after she is victorious over the
Canaanites. We will learn that Chanah, the next prophetess to lead B’nai
Yisrael, teaches us about enduring will and union with the Creator through
prayer, and she shares with Devorah the distinguished place of speaking the
greatest praise ever to the Creator. She calls the Creator “Host of Hosts.”
Avigail, committed to right action, says to David, “[D]o not forget your
maiden,” much like the glory spoken of by Devorah—“until I arose a
mother in Israel”—which can be seen as a declaration of emancipation from
the self and subsequently becoming a mother, who gives up her own well-
being for that of her children. Devorah—like Chuldah, whose knowledge of
the Torah is superseded by no other prophetess—shows her total adherence
to the Law and administration of the Law among the People of the Book.
From Esther is gained the similar capacity to save the Jewish people from
destruction. In Devorah we see elements of all the other prophetesses and of
the Sefirot they occupy. As the middle of the middle pillar, Devorah and
Tiferet balance all elements in a harmonious union.
In Birchat Hamazon (blessings after the meal), an action associated with
Tiferet and said after partaking of bread and other food, we bless the land as
our second blessing after the blessing for nourishment. The blessing itself
has four parts, corresponding to the four worlds in which we and our soul
are rooted. Therefore prayer, represented by the fig and the Sefirah of
Netzach, provides us with our spiritual nourishment.
The prayer’s four parts are:
1. Blessing for nourishment: God nourishes the entire world
2. Blessing for the land we have been given through our
forefathers
3. Blessing for Jerusalem, the resting place (heritage) of God’s
glory
4. Blessing for God’s goodness and bountifulness to us
Devorah teaches us that Tiferet is the place of adjustment between parts,
an elevation to balance within and without. The laws of beauty include the
laws of moral order, a balance of unique but interdependent parts and events
brought into equilibrium. The individual and the community must live by a
moral order. The vine produces the sacramental wine with which we bless
the Creator and His abundance. The blessings said over the wine—the
grape is the species of Tiferet—remind us that under the vine we will sit in
harmony and peace and in redemption. When we adhere to an inner and
outer order, predicated on the word of God as presented in Torah and as
shown by Devorah’s life and conduct, the society itself has the ability to
elevate the sparks and help bring Moshiach and redemption to the
individual and the world.
Just as the other Sefirot seem to reflect from within them some aspect of
the time of Moshiach and redemption, Tiferet can be considered the revival
of the traditional Sanhedrin (the council of seventy elders) that will precede
Moshiach and the Ark that sits in the Temple in which is housed the Torah
and the sacred implements. Tiferet reflects the shine of the Temple Ark as
the heart within each of us. Through our love of God, we become one house
united from which the flame of zeal for performing God’s Word illuminates
the world with its righteousness and beauty.
We learn from Devorah how to take part in elevating the community to
moral order, and the next prophetess, Chanah, teaches the Israelites the true
meaning of victory as an outcome of prayer.
6
Chanah
Netzach • The Victory of Spiritual Discipline
The gates of prayer may be closed, but never the gates of tears.
BERACHOT 32B, PSALMS 39:13
Chanah (Hannah)
 Chet (8) Nun (50) Hay (5) = 63
Sefirah Correspondence: Netzach
Titles: Prophetess, Mother of Samuel
Family: Wife of Elkanah; mother of Samuel; counterpart to Eli, the High
Priest
Time Period Jewish Calendar Gregorian Calendar
Birth 2702 1058 BCE
Prayer 2831 929 BCE
Birth of Samuel 2832 928 BCE
Developmental Stage: Spiritual order
Day: Wednesday
Sacred Species: Fig
Body Correspondence: Right leg
Rituals: Prayer, offerings to the Temple
Holiday: Tu’ B’Shevat
Symbol: Shiloh
Prayers: Amidah, Sabbath blessing on the children
Shine of Chanah–Netzach: The rituals restored in the Third Temple
Prophecy Source: 1 Samuel 1:25–28, “Please, my Lord! By your life my
Lord, I am the woman who was standing by you here praying to
HaShem. This is the child that I prayed for; HaShem granted me my
request that I asked of him.”
Chanah’s Song: 1 Samuel 2:1–10, “Then Chanah prayed and said: My
heart exults in HaShem, my pride has been raised through HaShem; my
mouth is opened wide against my antagonists, for I rejoice in your
salvation.”
SEFIRAH: NETZACH
Netzach is the source of our endurance, our spiritual will. It is called victory
and eternity, reflecting Chanah’s spiritually active life in pursuit of having a
child and in her devotion to God at the Temple at Shiloh. Like this Sefirah
of great and steadfast action, Chanah discovers through her devotion the
mysteries of prayer.
Phase of Development: Chanah shows us how to be consistent in our
efforts in our relationships to God and the world. She teaches us a quality
of prayer that is full of heartfelt devotion. Spiritual order in our life
makes the physical body a vessel for the holy to fill and unites the
material and the spiritual. Following Tiferet and Devorah, Netzach
develops our inner spiritual will to make it an addition in the community,
which helps the community practice faith in action.
Life Principle: As endurance and eternity tells us, Netzach is a principle of
effort. Just as the Creator is always working on the world’s behalf, we too
must make an effort in the world in an enduring, consistent, and
committed fashion. Overcoming our own failures and whatever obstructs
our progress takes determined action.
World Action: Netzach endows a moral society with eternal spiritual
guidelines. Here, the individual moves away from an ego-centered life to
an altruistic one. A moral framework guides our human relationships
(Tiferet). The next level of maturity is our relationship to the Creator. Inall that we do there should be praise and awareness of the Creator as
Master of All, Host of Hosts.
Spiritual Action: Using prayer, Netzach is the spirit’s call to action.
Endowed with mercy and charity, it emphasizes our ability to be constant
in our attachment and devotion to God and God’s plan for creation.
Netzach is our victory over our lower impulses.
Meaningful Work: Netzach enables physically demanding jobs, such as
those in the military and in various institutions. It enables excellent
managers, entrepreneurs, and leaders.
Day Focus: Do something you have put off or something that requires a
great deal of energy—reconnect with people from the past who are
important but overlooked or commit to a long-term goal and make a plan
of action to accomplish it.
Species: The fig blooms twice each summer, in June and in August.
CHANAH’S STORY
Chanah was the wife of Elkanah, a Godly man. For nineteen years, Chanah
petitioned God in her desire for children. She eventually conceived, at the
age of 130, but before this holy event occurred, Chanah devised a number
of methods to conceive and in the process led a spiritual revolution,
teaching the Israelites to rely on prayer and not miracles. She endured
the taunting of her husband’s other wife, Peninah, whom Chanah brought
into the household with the thought that it would rouse her own womb to
jealousy. Peninah had many children, while Chanah remained barren. She
decided she would pretend to have committed adultery, and after the tests
for this would prove her innocence, God would give her a child. She went
to the Temple at Shiloh to pray, but Eli, the High Priest, saw her moving
her lips yet heard no words coming from her and thus mistook Chanah’s
conversation with God as the mumblings of a drunken women. She
explained her petition to God and promised that if she conceived, she would
dedicate her son as a Nazarite.
In addition to conceiving the prophet Samuel and four other children,
Chanah brought into the world the name of God as Host of Hosts: God
says, “You have multiplied my Hosts [by calling me Host of Hosts] … I
will multiply yours.”1 In addition to motherhood, Chanah teaches us
spiritual devotion and what would become the structure of the Amidah, the
standing prayer recited several times each day in Judaism.
SYMBOLISM OF CHANAH
Right Pillar and Desire for Children
Like Sarah, her predecessor above her on the right pillar of the Tree of Life,
Chanah is barren for many years. Chanah’s story revolves around her desire
to conceive a child and what she does to accomplish that goal. Her life is a
dramatic telling of devotion to God, Torah, and the Temple. Her story
begins with her supplication to bear children. She ultimately conceives at
the age of 130, subsequently giving birth to four more of her own children
(three boys and two girls), with her two additional children being her two
grandsons, whom she lives to see born.2
Like Sarah, Chanah decides that though she herself is unable to bear
children, she should not prevent her husband from fathering offspring to
increase the family. She also thinks jealousy might arouse her womb to
conception, and thus she hatches a plan: “[W]hen Chanah saw that she was
not bearing children, she thought, ‘I will tell my husband to bring another
wife into my house, so that the Holy One, Blessed is He, will see that I have
brought a rival into the house and will grant me conception.’”3 It is
forbidden to create rivalries between women deliberately, and there are
legal prohibitions against two sisters being married to the same man at the
same time. Indeed, biblical women show us the anguish it causes in their
lives, yet if all is God, then these antagonisms or polarizations are for the
eventual rectification of both the individuals and the community.
Chanah’s Spiritual Revolution
In Netzach we learn how to pray “for one thing at a time.”4 Chanah’s
persistent efforts to bear offspring can be seen in her challenges to the
Creator, for which she is later rewarded. She is strong-willed and
demonstrates that the greater our plea for help—the plea being the vessel
that the light can fill—the more likely we are to be answered. Genuine
prayer comes from the heart, nullifying ourselves to make room for God’s
presence. Becoming pregnant with the light, we proclaim prayers not from
lack, but from praise of God.
Rely on Prayer, Not on Miracles
God tells Abraham that his people are not controlled by the stars (astrology)
and our destiny can be changed from bad to good through prayer.5 The
Rambam (Maimonides) teaches that all the miracles wrought by the
prophets are the result of their prayers.6 “By virtue of sincere prayer, Joshua
stopped the sun and Elijah and Elisha resurrected the dead. Even the
greatest prophets were not endowed with mysterious supernatural powers;
rather, their prophetic spirit brought them closer to God so that they could
pray with great intimacy and trust in the almighty.”7 This shows us that we
may not rely on miracles when in danger. Instead, we are to rely on prayer,
for “prayer is not a miracle.”8
Chanah’s Refinement
Despite Chanah’s pleas, the “Holy One, Blessed is He, purified Chanah
through suffering for nineteen years: ten years of marriage during which she
did not bear children (after which Elkanah married Peninah, who bore him
ten sons [in] eight years), and one year of carrying and bearing Samuel.”9
As Hagar troubles Sarah, Peninah troubles Chanah. “Her rival vexed her”:10
“Peninah would rise early and say to Chanah, ‘aren’t you going to get up
and wash your children’s faces so they can go to school?’ And at midday
[Peninah] would say ‘aren’t you preparing to welcome your children home
from school?’ When they sat down to eat [Peninah] would say to Elkanah,
‘Give this son of mine his portion … you did not give that son of mine his
portion.’”11 We learn from the Torah, “But to Chanah he [Elkanah, her
husband] gave a double portion, for he loved Chanah and God had closed
her womb.”12
Endurance
In an active way, Chanah seeks spiritual remedy for her barrenness. She
uses Jewish Law in some of her plans and ritual in others. She speaks to
God as a contemporary with whom she is angry or whom she loves or from
whom she needs help. Nowhere do we have the feeling that Chanah is
speaking to a Creator that is distant, remote, or inaccessible. Netzach as
eternity shows us our fundamental closeness to God, that we are connected
to Him at the hip, like a child who is carried by its mother.
Peninah’s ongoing taunting of Chanah over her barrenness is HaShem’s
well-intended way to provoke Chanah to prayer. God uses Peninah’s
unmerciful behavior for Chanah’s good. Because Peninah is cruel, however,
all ten of her children perish while Chanah goes on to conceive five of her
own children, including Samuel. We are told that “Chanah prayed” means
she does so with prophetic inspiration.13
When we look at the prophecies of the prophetesses thus far, we see a
progressive line of descent to the royal House of David, our next Sefirot of
Hod and Avigail. Sarah sees the destiny of Isaac and Jacob as the
foundation on which rests all of Israel; Miriam foretells the birth of Moses
and his role as prophet and redeemer; Devorah foretells the victory of the
Israelites against the Canaanites; and Chanah foretells, in prophetic prayer,
that “[m]y son Samuel is destined to be a prophet in Israel, and in his days
Israel will be miraculously saved from the Philistines. My Great Grandson
Heman, Son of Joel, together with his fourteen sons, is destined to sing
hymns with lyres and harps among their fellow Levites in the Temple.”14
As a single story reflecting the true nature of the Sefirot of the Etz
Chayim, the prophetesses’ lives and teachings reflect the story of each
individual’s progressive ascent spiritually, which, paradoxically, involves
becoming progressively more immersed in the physical world.
Chanah and the High Priest Eli
In the story of each prophetess, the prophetess has a male counterpartas
husband or collaborator or both. Sarah has Abraham; Miriam has her
brothers, Moses and Aaron; Devorah has her husband, Barak (or
Lappidoth). Who does Chanah have? We learn her husband’s name,
Elkanah, and that he is a devoted spouse and an observant man. But it is Eli,
the priest at Shiloh, who seems to be Chanah’s counterpart in her Sefirotic
importance as Netzach. Eli is like a spiritual brother to the prophetess
Chanah. His life is synonymous with the Temple at Shiloh; he is responsible
for raising Chanah’s first son, Samuel, who becomes judge, ruler, and
prophet of Israel.
Chanah’s life story revolves around the Temple of Shiloh, where Eli and
Chanah first meet as strangers. Eli and Chanah’s stories are interwoven.
Chanah and Samuel, a mother and son, each gifted in the holy art of
prophecy, become the instruments by which God, through the High Priest,
can anoint blessings. Netzach is a receptacle for the blessings of holy
action. While Tiferet holds peace within it, Netzach has the ability to confer
on others the qualities it inherits. This is why we see the Kohen Gadol, the
High Priest of Netzach, being able to confer the blessings of God on the
people. Who confers the blessings on the priests? God administers the
blessings on the Kohen Gadol: “I will bless those who bless you.”15
Chanah’s Prayer at Shiloh
In the Torah, Eli, the High Priest at Shiloh, where the Tabernacle is housed,
“sees this woman [Chanah] mumbling and hearing no words, mistakes her
for a drunkard.”16 But we know that “Chanah rose after she ate in Shiloh
and after the drinking”; he drinks, but she does not.17
It happens that as she continues to pray before God, Eli observes her
mouth. Chanah is speaking to her heart—her lips move, but her voice is not
heard—so Eli believes she is drunk. Eli says to her, “How long will you be
drunk? Remove your wine from yourself!” Chanah answers, “No my Lord,
I am a woman of aggrieved spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong
drink, and I have poured out my soul before God. Do not deem your
maidservant to be a based woman—for it is out of much grievance and
anger that I have spoken until now.” Eli then responds, “Go in peace, the
God of Israel will grant the request you have made of Him.” She said, ‘May
your maidservant find favor in your eyes.’ Then the woman went on her
way and she ate, and no longer had the same look on her face.”18
Chanah’s Spiritual Strategies
During her nineteen years of barrenness in her marriage, one of Chanah’s
plans is to create a situation by which she will be tested for adultery and
then found innocent, for Halacha (Jewish Law) tells us: “[I]f the woman be
guiltless, then she shall be cleared and shall conceive seed.”19
In this scheme, Chanah tells God that she will pretend to lie with a man
other than her husband, Elkanah, whom she will tell in advance of her plan,
though he will object to it.20 She will then be put through the ordeal of an
adulteress and will be forced to drink the Sotah waters—from which a
guilty woman will die and an innocent woman live. Chanah tells the Holy
One, blessed is He: “When a woman’s life is in danger, she is checked in
three areas to see whether she is worthy of surviving. [These three areas
are] family purity, separation of challah from the dough, and kindling of the
Sabbath candles.” She asks: “Have I transgressed [in] a single one of
them?”21
Chanah’s knowledge of Halacha (Jewish Law) and her determined will
are hallmarks of victory. She knows how, when, and where to apply her will
and, ultimately, how to surrender her own will to that of the Creator.
Prayer and Conception
Just as God closes Chanah’s womb, He opens it, like the Holy of Holies that
the Kohen Gadol enters only once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of
Atonement. It is said that Chanah, like Sarah, conceives on Rosh Hashanah,
the New Year. The Torah tells us of this moment: “They arose early in the
morning and prostrated themselves before God: then they returned and
came to their home, to Ramah. Elkanah knew Chanah his wife and God
remembered her.”22
Tradition tells us of that day:
Chanah arose after eating in Shiloh and after drinking; and Eli the
Kohen was tilting on the chair, near the doorpost of the Sanctuary of
God. She was feeling bitter, and she prayed to God, weeping
continuously. She made a vow and said, “God, Master of Legions
[Host of Hosts], if you take note of the suffering of Your maidservant,
and You remember me, and do not forget Your maidservant, and give
Your maidservant male offspring, then I shall give him to God all the
days of his life, and a razor shall not come upon his head.”23
Every year, Chanah and Elkanah go up to Shiloh together to make their
annual offerings, at which time Eli blesses them, “‘May God grant you
offspring from this woman,’ because of the request that he [Elkanah] had
made of God … For God had remembered Chanah and she conceived and
gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up
with God.”24
The child given Chanah as a result of her prayers is named Samuel
(requested of God) whom Chanah knows prophetically to be a son of Israel,
not a “son of her own.” This prophetic knowledge likely explains her
willingness to commit him to the priesthood even before he is conceived.
Ultimately, we are assured that Chanah is “granted conception in the merit
of [her] prostration [before God].”25 After Eli mistakes her mumbling for
that of a drunkard and rectifies his error by blessing Chanah, we learn of
Chanah’s prophetic talents: “[F]or this child I prayed.”26 “May it be His will
that when he grows up, he will strive to serve God as he does now as a
child.”27 Samuel eventually rules Israel, first alone for ten years, then two
years with Saul, and then David reigns in Hebron for seven years.
The Nazarite and the Priestly Blessing
Chanah promises her unborn son to the service of HaShem as a Nazarite.28
The Bible speaks of two people who were lifelong Nazarites: Samson
(Judges 13:3–7) and Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11).29 After learning the
Nazarites’ ritual obligations, the Torah next teaches the blessing of the
Kohen Gadol (High Priest)—the priestly blessing that “God spoke to Moses
saying: ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: So Shall you bless the
Children of Israel, saying to them: ‘May God bless you and safeguard you.
May God illuminate His countenance for [upon] you and be gracious to
you. May God lift his countenance to you and establish peace for you. Let
them place My Name upon the Children of Israel, and I shall bless them.’”30
The instructions given to the High Priests to create the proper vessel to
hold God’s blessings include that of shalom (peace), a central quality of
Tiferet. This tells us that the individual in a state of peace is a vessel for
God’s blessings. These directives precede the day that Moses finishes
erecting the Tabernacle, which he anoints and sanctifies—both the altar and
its utensils—just as he did the leaders of Israel—the leaders of the tribes.
Moses’ accomplishment of building the Tabernacle is the shine for all the
Temples, including Shiloh, just as the words of prayer are the shine of our
Holy of Holies, our hearts.
The only time Chanah does not ascend to Shiloh for the annual offerings
is after Samuel is born. She makes clear that when she does go up to the
Temple, it will be at the time of Samuel’s weaning, when she will offer him
to the priesthood—to the care of Eli.
Host of Hosts
Miriam challenges all earthly authority as well as that of God. Devorah
challenges earthly oppressors and helps establish guidelines by which
society should live. Chanah’s will is focused on the Creator; she uses the
abilities of Miriam and Devorah to elevate the material world to a new
plateau, conquering any spiritual adversary we have in our hearts, which is
ultimately the source of our doubt in God.
The nature of Chanah’s praying is new to B’nai Yisrael and the world.
Her declaration to the Creator—“Host of Hosts” (Master of Legions)—has
attracted multiple commentariesover the centuries. One interpretation of
her declaration is that “[f]or the festival, Chanah went up to the Tabernacle
where she saw all of Israel, (gathered). ‘Master of the universe,’ she said,
‘all these hosts are Yours, and not even one among them is mine!’”31
In her pleas for conception, Chanah is the first human to call the Creator
“Host of Hosts.” When Chanah describes her longing for conception, she
speaks for all women in her conversations with God regarding her
barrenness, telling the Master of the Universe that He created no part of her
body in vain: “For what are these breasts that you placed on my heart if not
to nurse with? Give me a son to nurse!”32 The Shechinah is the immortal
mother aspect of God who nurses her young humanity and Israel.33
Another perspective is that from the day God created the world, no
person had ever called him “Host of Hosts” until Chanah came along.
According to Chanah: “Of all the hosts that you created in your world, is it
hard for you to give me one son?”34 The sages suggest that Chanah uses her
reasoning with God. “Master of the Universe,” Chanah says, “there is a host
in heaven and a host on earth, and I do not know to which I belong. If [I
belong] to the Host of heaven I should not eat, drink, procreate, or die, and I
should live forever. And if I am of the earthly host, I should eat, drink and
also procreate!”35 “The holy one, blessed is He, said to her ‘You have
multiplied my Hosts [by calling me Hosts]. I will multiply yours.’ Thus it is
written, all these were the sons of Chanah.”36
Prayer and Humility
Prayer increases the flame of spiritual will. Regardless of our stature in the
material world, the birthright of the crown, our inner closeness to the
Creator, our ability to talk with and for the Creator, determines our ability to
have the Shechinah, God’s Divine Immanence, rest upon us. Chanah leads
us through the gate of prayer. Prayer (tefilah) and song (shira) are both
conductors of prophecy and play an equal role in the spiritual life of the
People of the Book.
Knowing as we do that humility is the keynote of prophecy, we
understand that bowing in prayer has its source of power in surrendering to
God’s will. “Rabbi Yitzchak said: Everything happens only in the merit of
bowing. Abraham returned from Mt. Moriah in peace only because he
bowed to God, as it says: ‘We will bow down and return to You.’”37
“Similarly, the Jews were redeemed from Egypt.… They received the
Torah, Hannah’s prayers were answered.… The exiles will be ingathered.…
The Temple will be rebuilt … the dead will be resurrected, in the merit of
bowing down before God.”38
Everyone’s heart is the entrance to the gate of prayer. This gate is either
closed or open. Chanah shows us how to open the gate of prayer and the
gate of tears, which is a higher gate than prayer. Tears stand for the
ablutions made on the altar, the water rituals of purification. They can be
the sign of humility in both joy and awe, the fundamental love Chassidut
teaches, bringing us to oneness with God. Chassidut shows us that in nature
and in our environment, rain is withheld as result of gossip and slander, of
sin and neglect of Torah.
Just as the rains bless the land with nourishment and bounty, so too in our
personal lives, tears of repentance nourish the entire body with the Creator’s
mercy and love. Chanah shows us this, as does Netzach. Netzach applies
the will not just to the world we live in, but also to the world to which we
are rooted in heaven. “May the expressions of my mouth and the thoughts
of my heart find favor before You, God, my Rock and my Redeemer.”39
We are shown from various perspectives that Chanah speaks not a
formulated prayer from the intellect, but one from her heart. When Eli, the
High Priest, mistakes her silent prayers for drunkenness, she responds, “No,
my master, you are not a master in this matter, and divine inspiration does
not rest upon you if you suspect me [of being drunk].”40
Chanah and Devorah’s Connection in Prayer
In the Zohar we learn that “there were two women who uttered songs and
praises to the holy one blessed is He such as no man in the world ever
uttered. Who were they? Devorah and Chanah.”41 The sequence between
Devorah in Tiferet (beauty) and Chanah in Netzach (eternity and victory)
shows us that praise as prayer or in song makes us victorious over the
forces of darkness and engenders an opportunity for prophecy.
Chanah shows us how to speak from our hearts. Just as Devorah
pronounces judgments, declaring who is guilty and who is innocent,
Chanah declares her heart’s desire to the Creator. Devorah’s is a declaration
of moral order and Chanah shows a purpose of spiritual speech and how to
induce the Shechinah’s presence. Baal Shem Tov teaches that the correct
use of speech will hasten the ending of our exile.
Prayer Is Eternity in Speech
Netzach shows us the potential return of the light and shows us that prayer
facilitates an aliyah, a going up or elevation of the soul. Using speech to
praise the Creator is the ultimate use of words. As vessels of eternal living
truth, these words embody the Shechinah in our lives and in the spiritual
worlds from which our souls derive their power and glory. Prayer is eternity
in speech.
Prayer in speech endows the world with the shine of the Or En Sof, from
the end to the beginning. From the shine of our mouths comes the light of
eternity. Prayer is the highest form of speech, and Netzach, through Chanah,
shows us its purpose. Part of living a holy life is to develop and proliferate
through prayer. We receive Chesed (seed) love of the Creator in our hearts
(Holy of Holies), the material womb of prayer.
Prayer as Victory
How is prayer an element of victory? Through prayer (spiritual endurance),
we conquer our own shortcomings and enter a relationship with the
kingdom of heaven and the power of Hod, the splendor of God. We are
readied for contact with the divine presence in Hod. So begins the
Shemoneh Esrei credited to Chanah: “My Lord, open my lips, that my
mouth may declare Your praise.”42
Receiving the element of loving-kindness from Sarah, the strength and
discernment of Miriam, and the skills of just action from Devorah, Chanah
gives herself over to all of them, demonstrating that faith and prayer are
forerunners to the royal bloodline (Avigail), redemption (Chuldah), and
Moshiach (Esther).
Chanah’s Song of Prayer
Chanah and Devorah praise the Creator as no other humans. Devorah’s
song occurs after the overthrow of the Canaanites, a triumph over evil in the
material world. Chanah’s song is declared just after she “brought the child
to Eli.”43
Chanah then says to Eli, “Please, my lord! By your life, my lord, I am the
woman who was standing by you here praying to God. This is the child that
I prayed for; God granted me my request that I asked of Him. Furthermore,
I have dedicated him to God—all the days that he lives he is dedicated to
God.” “He [Samuel] then prostrated himself to God.”44
This precedes Chanah’s song of prayer, a triumph over her spiritual
challenge of keeping faith in the Creator. Chanah shows us that a communal
place of worship is as important for the individual as it is for the
community. As we saw earlier, a place is blessed by our presence. Netzach
teaches us that our enduring efforts in refining the material world are part of
the work we must do to prepare a place for the Creator’s presence. Our
offerings, material or spiritual (prayers and sacrifices), are keys that open
the gates of prayer. It is the song of the heart that opens the gates of tears,
which are never closed. Through our good deeds and prayers, life’s
conditions can be altered. This is our victory. This is an eternal and
enduring truth highlighted by Chanah’s life. Chanah leads us to victorious
prayer.
Chanah’s regular participation at the Temple in Shiloh is the reason we
are given for her ultimate conception of the prophet Samuel (Shmuel
HaNavi): “Because Chanah went up regularly to the Tabernacle, [whereshe] prayed and pleaded before the Holy One, Blessed is He, He heard her
prayer and granted her conception.”45 Chanah, like other women in our holy
lineage (the matriarchs Sarah and Rachel), is also granted conception on
Rosh Hashanah.46 New Year’s day signifies that each of their sons will be a
leader of something new, the head of something important. When the book
of life is first opened on Rosh Hashanah, and closed on Yom Kippur, which
occurs ten days later, the womb of each is opened by the mercy of the
Creator on B’nai Yisrael’s behalf. Because they stand on the right pillar, it is
only fitting that we see this downflow of mercy, love, and abundance to
Sarah and Chanah—and on such an auspicious day of the year. New Year’s
day in Judaism is when we are told the shine of the light of life illuminates
all our heads with blessings. It is a day to praise the Creator’s greatness and
to ask to be written in to the book of life, as apparently were the souls of
Isaac (Yitzchak), Samuel (Shmuel), and Benjamin (Binyamin).
Chanah’s Enduring Prayer
Then Chanah prayed and said:
My heart exults in God; my pride has been raised through God;
My mouth is opened wide against my antagonists,
For I rejoice in Your Salvation.
There is none as holy as God, for there is none besides You,
And there is no Rock like our God.”
1 SAMUEL 2:1–1047
Chanah’s prayers to God mark a transition to a deeper understanding of
prayer and purpose in the social structure of B’nai Yisrael. Moving from the
era of judges, who were chosen by the Creator, Chanah’s son Samuel
inaugurates the period of the dynastic monarchy of kings, which becomes a
birthright. The Chronicle of Kings shows that with the inheritance of the
birthright, leadership fails and the moral leadership is placed with the
prophets, who are holy seers and Israel’s guides.
Studying the Torah
In terms of the reciprocity of vessel and emanator, prayers elevate the
stature of Shiloh itself, for it is said that every day the Creator weeps three
tears. “My eyes will drip tears, for the flock of God will have been
captured.”48 We learn further that God weeps for the person who has the
ability to study the Torah but does not, for a person who is not able to study
the Torah but does (and professes to be a rabbi), and for a leader who
intimidates his community.
Chanah studies the Torah and performs her rituals enthusiastically. She is
an example to her community. Her presence is an addition to the sanctuary
at Shiloh, referred to in Baraita as the resting place of the Creator, while
Jerusalem is “the heritage that God your Lord is giving you.”49 The
Shechinah is clearly “resting” in Shiloh, the place of the Tabernacle prior to
the building of the First Temple in Jerusalem, and the person who
consecrates the Creator there is illuminated by the Divine Immanence of the
Creator. But Shiloh did not last. Why not?
Shiloh’s Destruction
We learn a great deal about the inner nature of Netzach by examining the
destruction of Shiloh. Considered the “resting place” of the Creator, it is
said that Shiloh is destroyed because of two evils “that prevailed there:
immorality and treating holy things with contempt. Where does it say that
they were guilty of immorality? For it says ‘now Eli was very old. When he
heard [w]hat his sons [Chofni and Pinchas] were doing to all Israel, and
about the acts of adultery that they engaged in with women who gathered in
great numbers at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,’”50 he became
brokenhearted. “And even though R. Shmuel B. Nachmani said in the name
of R. Yochanan: ‘Those who say that the sons of Eli are sinners are
mistaken; [he says that the verse should not be taken literally; what is meant
is] since Chofni and Pinchas, delayed the bringing of the sacrifices (bird
offerings) that the women who gave birth were required to bring, Scripture
considers their act of delaying as if they had committed adultery. [The other
sin was] Treating holy things with contempt. (How do we know that?)
Because it says (about Eli’s sons)’” that they demanded meat to cook for the
priest before the fat offering on the altar was made.51
The notion that preventing the women who had recently given birth from
bringing their offering was adultery clarifies the bird offering at Shiloh as
an elevation and thanks-giving offering for the partnership with the Creator
in giving birth. It is the quintessential teaching of Chanah’s life that for a
woman, the womb is the holy Beit Hamikdash (Temple) of the Creator. The
external Temple where a woman offers thanksgiving for life inside the Holy
of Holies of her body is her reciprocal action, her thanksgiving to the one
who gives life.
The Years of the Tabernacle
Because Shiloh is the resting place of the Holy Tabernacle, the indwelling
presence of the Shechinah, much as Mt. Moriah is pivotal in Sarah’s life,
the Temple at Shiloh is pivotal in Chanah’s life and the progressive
development of the People of the Book.52
The Temple at Shiloh: The Creator’s Resting Place
The Temple of Shiloh is itself important and draws our attention to what
Moses said: “[N]ow you have not yet come to the resting place and the
heritage that God your Lord is giving you.”53 Jerusalem is referred to as
“heritage” in Jeremiah. While Jerusalem is mentioned in some of our
blessings and prayers as the resting place of our God, Rashi (R. Shlomo ben
Yitzchak) says, “[I]n Deuteronomy, Chapter 12:9 states that Menucha (rest)
is Shilo and Nachala (heritage) is Jerusalem.”54
The Importance of Three
As with the other species associated with each prophetess, Chanah’s fig has
its own song, drawn from Proverbs 28:18: “The protector of a fig tree will
eat its fruit.”
During the first three years of growth after planting, all are forbidden to
take any produce from the fruit trees of Israel. Similarly, the number 3 finds
meaning in Netzach and the nature of faith itself, to which prayer is
attached. In Netzach we see the embodiment of doing the mitzvah, of
carrying out the will of the Creator. This is reflected in how the 613
Commandments (mitzvot) have been condensed by prophets and kings over
the centuries into underlying principles for life.
The prophet Micah set forth the mitzvot as three fundamental principles
of decorum: “He has told you, O man, what is good! What does God
require of you but [1] to do justice, [2] to love kindness, and [3] to walk
humbly with your God?”55
In tractate Makkot we learn that Isaiah “condensed them to one principle,
as it says, ‘For thus said God to the House of Israel: Seek Me and live.’”56
“But it is Habakkuk, who came and boiled down the [613 Mitzvot] to one
fundamental underlying principle, as it says, ‘The righteous person shall
live through his faith.’”57
King David’s Eleven Principles and Isaiah’s Six
Both King David and the prophet Isaiah have left us their versions of what
God intends for us and how we can fulfill His will. See Psalm 15 for
David’s version.
A psalm of David. God, who may sojourn in your tent? Who may
dwell on Your holy mountain? (1) One who walks in perfect innocence
and (2) does what is right, and (3) speaks the truth from his heart; (4)
who has no slander on his tongue, (5) who has done his fellow no evil,
(6) nor casts disgrace on his close one; (7) in whose eyes a
contemptible person is repulsive, (8) but who honors those who fear
God; (9) who stands by his oath ever to his detriment; (10) who does
not lend his money on interest, and (11) takes not a bride against the
innocent. The doer of these shall not falter forever. (Psalms 15)58
Isaiah came and condensed [the 613 Mitzvot] to six fundamental
principles as it says, “(1) He walks with righteousness, and (2) speaks
with truthfulness; (3) spurns extortionists profits, (4) and shakes off his
hands from holding a bribe, (5) he seals his ears from hearing of
bloodshed, (6) and he shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He shall dwell in
lofty security.”59
The beauty of each of these summaries teaches us a basic principle about
Torah study and Torah-basedliving. We all have our own lens through
which we see and act in the world. At the root, however, we are the same.
The Shemoneh Esrei (Eighteen Benedictions), or Amidah
Chanah devised the formula of the Shemoneh Esrei (literally, eighteen
blessings), or Amidah. While the sages composed the explicit prayer after
the long Babylonian exile of the Jewish people, it was from Chanah’s life
that they drew inspiration for the prayer’s structure. When the rabbis use the
word prayer (tefillah), they are referring to these benedictions. Said two or
three times a day, the prayer takes the place of daily offerings in the
Temple. First, supplicants praise the Creator, then they ask for what they
need, and in closing, they take their leave by bowing in three directions.
This is the internal structure of the Shemoneh Esrei (Amidah). The prayer
teaches us how to rendezvous with God through the service of the heart.
Prayer below creates a vessel for God to fill reciprocally. Chanah’s gift to
us is not only that she birthed of one of the greatest prophets (Samuel), but
also that she showed us that God is accessible to us when we pray with our
heart (Binah) and mouth (Malchut), the first and last Hay of Yod Hay Vav
Hay, God’s holy name. Teshuvah creates the vessel for God to fill and self-
nullification empowers the prayer’s ascension.
The nineteen years of desire Chanah endured during which she did not
yet have a child has an interesting correspondence to the prayer called the
Amidah or standing prayer, which she is credited with expressing. It is said
that by “standing in prayer,” we emulate the patriarchs, who, it is said, were
able to rouse the angels and chant eighteen benedictions to the Creator:
“Our prayer is made up of 18 praises to the Creator.”60 According to the
Talmud, these in turn reflect our eighteen vertebrae, symbolizing the
Creator’s oneness. We have learned that 18 is the number for the word that
means “life” in Hebrew. We can see why the eighteen years of barrenness
during which Chanah prayed may have resulted in life in the nineteenth
year. Additionally, the Talmud teaches “that the number eighteen
corresponds with the eighteen times God’s Name is found in Psalm 29; the
eighteen times it is found in the recitation of the Shema …”61
GEMATRIA
499: Tzvaot
Tzvaot (Host): Tzadee (90) Bet (2) Alef (1) Vav (6) Tav
(400) = 499
Until Abraham, no one had called God Adonai, which is the merciful and
loving name of our Creator. Chanah was the first to call the Creator by the
name Host of Hosts. To better understand the significance of Tzvaot (in this
case, the Host of Hosts, Master of Legions) as it applies to Chanah and
Netzach, let us examine some of the words and expressions that equal its
numeric value, 499.
We first encounter a reference to God’s legions in a reference to Israel
itself. “It was at the end of the 430 years, and it was on that very day that all
the legions of God left the land of Egypt. It is a night of anticipation for
God to take them out of the land of Egypt, this was the night for God; a
protection for all the children of Israel for their generation.”62 This suggests
that the legions below, B’nai Yisrael, are comparable to the legions above.
when he departed out of (left, Genesis 12:1): Bet (2) Tzadee
(90) Alef (1) Tav (400) Vav (6) = 499
This phrase first appears when God calls to Abraham and tells him to
leave his land, relatives, and father’s house for “a land that I will show
you.… So Abram went as God had spoken to him and Lot went with him;
Abram was seventy-five years old when he left [when he departed out of]
Haran.”
Here is the beginning of the creation of the People of the Book; all
separate from the familiar when they leave what is known and place their
faith in the Creator. This suggests that when we leave what we know, we
can make contact with the power that emanates from God as Host of Hosts.
Just as Samuel is the seed of Chanah, whose womb is the resting place of
God’s mercy (Chesed, seed of life), so too B’nai Yisrael, the People of the
Book, are characterized as God’s seed of love in the world. Just as Abraham
must have faith in God to go out to an unknown place promised him by
God, so too must we each go out from our imprisonment to be victorious
over our lower inclinations, despite our doubt of the presence and power of
the Creator to help us. Faith (emunah) leads to victory.
So accustomed is Chanah to making the Temple a part of her life that it is
only natural for her to turn to the Creator through Temple worship and
sacrifices. Just as Sarah and Abraham sacrifice Isaac, so Chanah, as a
member of the right-hand pillar (Chesed overall), pays loving tribute to the
Creator, devoting as a sacrifice her son, should he be conceived by her, to
serve in the priesthood: “Give your handmaid seed of men,”63 “a man
(distinguished) among men [Samuel] … A son who will anoint two men:
[David and Saul], [Our sages say: A son] who will be average among men,
neither tall nor short … [so that people should not speak about him, and
place an evil eye on him.]64
The Amidah: The Standing Prayer
prayer (tefillah): Tav (400) Pey (80) Yod (10) Lamed (30) 
Hay (5) = 525
Chanah’s total devotion in prayer is the progenitor of the formula
expressed in what is called the Amidah or standing prayer (or Shemoneh
Esrei). It is recited at least twice a day, in the morning and evening, as is the
holy Shema prayer, the last words on a Jewish person’s lips at death: “Hear
oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one … praised be His glorious
name and His kingdom, for ever and ever.”
The Positive Commandments
God gave the Jewish people 613 commandments: 248 positive
commandments and 365 of them, standing for the days of the year, negative
things that we should not do. It is interesting to note that the 365 negatives
are associated with the solar year (the masculine aspect), the days of the
year being our physical mortality, while the positive mitzvot are inseparable
from the woman and the lunar cycle. Though the moon may be smaller than
the sun, its tides make possible procreation on earth. The tides are the
Creator’s divine breath that makes the holy waters in all life-forms—
whether the sea or the womb of the woman—capable of supporting life.
womb (rechem): Reish (200) Chet (8) Mem (40) = 248
It is noteworthy that this has the same numeric value as the number of
positive commandments. Chanah may have understood intuitively that by
conceiving and giving birth to a child, a woman spiritually fulfills all of the
positive commandments.
370: The Number of Years the Tabernacle
Stands at Shiloh
A brief examination of clues about the number of years (370) the
Tabernacle is at Shiloh reveals these words or phrases in Hebrew.
dwelt (dwell, Genesis 14:13): Shin (300) Caf (20) Nun (50) = 370
This refers to Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who is taken captive while
Abraham dwells in Mamre.
complete (full, Genesis 33:18): Shin (300) Lamed (30) Mem
(40) = 370
This refers to Jacob’s arrival in Shechem intact, complete, whole.
green tree (Deuteronomy 12:2): Reish (200) Ayin (70) Nun (50) 
Nun (50) = 370
These words appear when Israel is told by God to destroy the fields and
property—including every “leafy green tree”—of the places where idol
worship has taken place.
and your heavens (Deuteronomy 28:16, 28:23): Shin (300) Mem
(40) Yod (1) Caf (20) = 370
This phrase appears when HaShem warns the Israelites that if they do not
hearken to His voice, “accursed will you be …65 and your heavens over
your head will be copper and land beneathe you will be iron.”66
Many other words suggest the ruination that was to befall Shiloh for
failing to uphold the Torah. These elements show us that before God
withdraws His protection, we are warned. Shiloh’s history teaches us not to
debase the holy in ourselves and in the world. When we attend to His Word,
the Shechinah, His indwelling presence, is with us and prophecy is made
possible.67
Shiloh stands for the prayer ofevery person, for it is where Chanah’s
prayers are answered. Prayer at Shiloh enables the heart to its song
(Jerusalem). B’nai Yisrael moves from God’s resting place in Shiloh to
Hebron and then to its final heritage in Jerusalem.
346: Shiloh
Shiloh Shin (300) Yod (10) Lamed (30) Vav (6) = 346
The place Shiloh embodies important blessings.68 A number of words and
phrases share the numeric value of Shiloh.
and the name (shem, Genesis 2:13): Vav (6) Shin (300) Mem
(40) = 346
This refers to the naming of the second river that flows out of Eden. “The
name of the second river in Gan Eden is Gichon, the one that encircles the
whole land of Cush.”
His [its] name (Genesis 2:19): Shin (300) Mem (40) Vav (6) =
346
This refers to the name that Adam gives to every living thing. We also
learn that the penalty for man and woman staying together during the
woman’s menses (her source, the fountain, Leviticus 20:18) Mem 
Kof Vav Reish means that they shall be cut off from the people. It is
interesting that niddah, family purity, the precedent to proper childbirth, is
accentuated by the word source being the same numeric value as Shiloh,
which was destroyed in part because Eli’s sons prevented the women who
had recently given birth from going up to make their personal sacrifices in a
timely manner, instead requiring that they stay away from their husbands
overnight at Shiloh. This is considered adultery of the heart, if not the body.
Family purity and childbirth are connected. Here we see an example of the
reasons for Shiloh’s destruction, which is concealed within its name.
favor (Deuteronomy 33:23): Reish (200) Tzadee (90) Vav (6) 
Nun (50) = 346
“Naphtali satiated with favor and filled with God’s blessings; go and
possess the sea and its South shore.”69 In at least two instances, the waters
of life, procreation, and the nourishment that comes from the land are equal
to Shiloh. We must conclude then that prayer and devotion to God and His
Word lead to the blessing of rain in its proper time and the conception of
children in their proper time.
Knead (Genesis 18:6): Lamed (30) Vav (6) Shin (300) Yod (10)
= 346
This word appears when the three angels come to Abraham, who then
goes to Sarah’s tent and instructs her to “Knead and make cakes.” We are
reminded of what is referred to as the avodah of the heart, the work or
tilling of the heart that every person is required to do.
Returning for a moment to the theme of the right pillar on which Chanah
resides, kneading is the action that prepares the dough for shaping, an
activity associated with Chesed, the Sefirah above her on the right pillar.
Kneading our characters suggests the self-refinement we must engage
through self-nullification in order to make ourselves vessels for the word of
God and for His blessings to flow to us.
guilt offering (Leviticus 5:16): Hay (5) Alef (1) Shin (300) 
Mem (40) = 346
This tells us that with the ram, the Kohen Gadol can provide atonement
and the guilt offering for the people, examined earlier in Sarah’s life as the
sacrifice of Isaac and commemorated in the guilt offering of a ram. (In this
we see the fact that what is above flows down to each Sefirah below.) Sarah
occupies Chesed on the right pillar above Chanah in Netzach below her. We
see then the act of sacrifice being presented first in Chesed through the
sacrifice of Isaac and then institutionally in Netzach with the priests,
reminding us that everything each of us does is connected.
Thus, Eli the High Priest, though his sons fall from the way, is himself
able to intercede on the people’s behalf. By rearing Samuel and preparing
him for prophecy, Eli makes Samuel his son in a spiritual sense. Despite the
failing of Eli’s own bloodline, his student goes on to judge all of Israel, as
does the prophetess Devorah before him, and anoint two kings, Saul and
David. Netzach prepares us for the royal lineage in the material world of the
House of King David and Moshiach, as well as the inheritance of Jerusalem
as the holy heritage of Israel. Chanah and Netzach promote all this as the
next step of the People of the Book toward ultimate revelation.
The Fig and Tu B’shevat
fig (taynah, as the symbol of Netzach, nourishment): Tav (400) 
Alef (1) Nun (50) Hay (5) = 456
The fig symbolizes the blessings and the bounty of the land, the theme of
Tu B’Shevat, and is acknowledged in the blessings after the meals. The fig
blooms in June and in August each summer.
The holiday of Tu B’Shevat, in keeping with the theme of renewal and
sacrifice and the fact that the fig, the species associated with Netzach, is
used during the holiday of the blessing of the trees, shows us that the
renewal of life occurs through faith and enduring commitment. Like the fig
tree, which produces figs that are sweet and full of seeds, we see that prayer
bears much fruit—a fruit of conjugality in Song of Songs. In the Bible the
fig is the first fruit mentioned.70 It is also included in the list of the seven
species that are the bounty of Israel.71
Figure 6.1. Early fig, Jaffa, Israel.
When eaten on Tu B’Shevat, the fig is part of the celebration for the
reawakening of agricultural life, a new year of the trees. Considered a
minor holiday that is not mentioned in the Bible, after the destruction of the
Second Temple, Tu B’Shevat was observed in the middle of the month of
Shevat. (Passover—Pesach—and Shavuot—Tabernacle of the Booths—are
also observed in the middle of the month.) Some commentators have
suggested that the fig (Netzach) may have been the tree in the Garden of
Eden from which Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat. Others suggest that
the forbidden tree was a wheat staff (Chesed) or perhaps, as the chapter here
on Chuldah suggests, an olive tree (Yesod).
63: The Numeric Value of Chanah’s Name
Chanah (Hannah): Chet (8) Nun (50) Hay (5) = 63
As we conclude our journey with Chanah and Netzach, let us look at the
story concealed in the fourth prophetess’s name. Just as we discovered a
particular pattern in the names of each of the other prophetesses, and we
learned the significance of related words of equal numeric value, so too can
we find in Chanah’s name the nature of Netzach and its purpose in our
lives.
Chanah’s life reveals our relationship to God, the community, and our
children. She also demonstrates that we each have a place to be. We are to
hold that place with all our faith and humility, in partnership with the
Creator. We learn from Chanah and Shiloh that it is the person whose
presence elevates the place. In the following Parshiot with words and
expressions that are equal to the numeric value of Chanah’s name, we find
examples that focus on relationships and place.
one (common, Genesis 11:1): Alef (1) Chet (8) Dalet (4) Yod
(10) Mem (40) = 63
“The whole earth was of one language and a common purpose.” This
verse occurs just prior to building the Tower of Babel. All humanity is
aware of its singular purpose, which is to serve the Creator and each other.
sinning against (Genesis 20:6): Mem (40) Chet (8) Tet (9) Vav
(6) = 63
God keeps King Avimelech from consorting with Sarah and thus sinning
against the Creator: “sinning against Me.”
Prophet (Genesis 20:7): Nun (50) Bet (2) Yod (10) Alef (1) =
63
“But now return the man’s wife, for he is a Prophet, and he will pray for
you and you will live, but if you do not return her, be aware that you shall
surely die; you and all that is yours.” Here, God is telling Avimelech to do
as he instructs, to return Sarah to Abraham or know that he and all that is
his will perish.
and you shall eat (Genesis 45:18): Vav (6) Alef (1) Caf (20) 
Lamed (30) Vav (6) = 63
“Bring your Father and your households and come to me. I will give you
the best of the land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat of the land.” In this
passage, we encounter the phaorah telling Joseph to say this to the people.
and the beast (Exodus 9:19): Vav (6) Hay (5) Bet (2) Hay
(5) Mem (40) Hay (5) = 63
Instructionspresence is among us. Though some
comparative religion writers might refer mistakenly to the Shechinah as the
divine feminine, the People of the Book regard God’s being as one, not two.
The Shechinah also stands for the word of God. All things are ushered from
His Word. This is why some have called Torah, Israel, and the world itself
the Shechinah.
In the classical teachings of the People of the Book, there are ten
fundamental steps through which to progress before attaining divine
inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh). Unlike prophecy, Ruach HaKodesh is
attainable by any of us anywhere in the world, provided we are worthy of it.
We are to assume that every prophetess in this book accomplished at least
this. We are told it is how King David was able to write his Psalms and
Solomon his Song of Songs. The classical ten steps of preparation are
delineated in the Talmud and are explained in the Ramchal’s (R. Chayim
Luzzattos’s) Path of the Just and R. Aryeh Kaplan’s Handbook of Jewish
Thought.38
1. Constant study and observance of the teachings of the Torah 
 Hay
2. Scrupulous care (zehirut ) not to violate a single law: 
3. Constant diligence (zerizut ) to fulfill every commandment: 
4. Living completely free of sin (cleanliness, nekiut ) in
thought and in deed: 
5. Avoiding even the permissible when it may lead to wrong
(abstinence; perishut 
6. Purifying ourselves of all sin, both past and present (purification,
tohorah 
7. Dedication to God far beyond the call of the law (piety, Chassidut 
8. Absolute negation of the self (humility; anavah 
9. Loving God so much as to dread all sin and evil (fear of sin; yirat
chet 
10. Total negation of the worldly (holiness; kedusha ): 
“Once a person had completed all these steps, he was then ready to
engage in the exercise of meditations (Hitbodedut), that were used to attain
inspiration.”39
The Bat Kol: Daughter of the Voice
It is also true that “a Prophet’s first experience may be so negligible that he
(or she) might not even recognize it as prophecy. The prophecy may consist
of a voice indistinguishable from human speech, as in the case of Samuel. It
is then very much like a Bat Kol,”40 a lesser grade of divine presence, called
the Daughter (Bat) of the Voice (Kol), through which many events in Torah
were confirmed. This level of prophecy is a wellestablished phenomenon in
Torah texts, and some believe it is identical to the Ruach HaKodesh.
Historical Occurrence of the Divine Voice (Bat Kol) in Biblical Times
Examples of the phenomenon of a divine voice are mentioned in the
Talmud:
When Yehudah admits his involvement with Tamar, a divine voice
announces, “You saved Tamar and her two sons; I will save your three
descendants [Chanahniah, Mishael, and Azariah] from the fire”: Sotah 10b.
A divine voice confirms Yehudah’s statement that he was the father of
Tamar’s children: Sotah 10b.
Other mountains challenge Mt. Sinai at the presentation of the Torah, and
the defense is presented by a divine voice: Megillah 29a.
“When the Children of Israel [accepted the gift of the Torah and] said ‘We
will do’ before they said ‘we will hear,’ a Heavenly voice went forth and
said: ‘Who revealed to my children this secret that is being used by the
ministering angels?’”: Shabbat 88a.
A divine voice emerges during Moses’ burial: Sotah 13b.
A divine voice in Samuel’s court confirms that he had never wronged
anyone: Makkot 23b.
A divine voice tells King David that he is unable to fulfill the biblical verse
of “1 chasing 1000” in war because of the incident with Bat Sheva, a
married woman with whom David had relations, and whose husband he
sent into war, hoping to eliminate him: Moed Katan 16b.
A divine voice confirms King Solomon’s decision as to who is the mother
of a disputed child brought before his court: Makkot 23b.
A divine voice tells King Solomon that he can’t acquire the forty-nine
levels of understanding that Moses had achieved: Rosh Hashanah 21b.
The students of Shammai debate the students of Hillel for three years until a
divine voice announces that although the words of both are the words of the
Living God, the Law follows the students of Hillel due to their gentle
humility: Eruvin 13b.
These examples show us that the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) can
manifest as a voice (Bat Kol) and is an expression of the Creator’s presence
and immanence, having a role in determining communal and personal life.
Judaism accepts prophecy as a means of knowing the Creator’s will. This
acceptance is as pertinent today as it was for the People of the Book in
biblical times.
ELEVEN DEGREES OF PROPHECY
According to the Rambam’s writings on the subject, there are eleven
distinct levels of the prophetic experience. Following are brief summaries
of these identifiable and distinct processes in the Judaic tradition by which
the prophetic experience occurs.41
1st Degree. At this level of experience, an individual is moved to great,
righteous, and important action by the spirit of God and is referred to
as being moved by the spirit of the Lord.
2nd Degree. Another force descends on the person or community and
makes him or her speak about the nation (government) or divine
matters while awake. It is said that in this way King David composed
Psalms and King Solomon composed Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the
Song of Songs. In addition, Daniel and Job composed their writings in
a state of the second degree of prophecy. In cases of this prophecy, an
individual or the community as a whole “speaks through the Holy
Spirit.”
3rd Degree. At this level the prophetic experience occurs through seeing
images: Parables in a dream are made clear in the dream itself. It is
identified by the saying “The word of the Lord came to me.”
4th Degree. Here the person hears a parable in a dream without seeing
the speaker.
5th Degree. In this case the prophet is addressed by a man in a dream,
much like Ezekiel was: “And a man said unto me.” In other words, an
individual is aware of who it is that is imparting information, and this
information is not in parables.
6th Degree. At this level, the prophetic experience involves angels
appearing to an individual in a wakened state. It is often stated in Torah
as: “an angel of God said to me …”
7th Degree. The prophet at this level has a dream in which the messenger
is identified “as the Lord,” as is attested by Isaiah’s record.
8th Degree. Here the development of the prophet’s clairvoyance and
clairaudience increases. The prophet’s revelation comes to him in a
“vision of prophecy” in parable form, as Abraham saw “in a vision
during the day.” Here the prophet is not asleep, but is fully conscious
and is shown a vision of parables.
9th Degree. Here the person’s clairaudience and clairvoyance are equal—
he hears speech in a waking vision.
10th Degree. Joshua at Jericho demonstrated this degree in seeing a man
who addressed him in his prophetic vision. At this level, a prophet is
awake and has a vision and is aware of being addressed by a human
being.
11th Degree. The prophet sees an angel in a dream, as the patriarchs
experienced at various times.
The Rambam has differentiated between waking and sleeping states and
information brought by messengers and by direct communion with God.
Some degrees of prophecy seem more attainable than others, making it
easier to interpret the divine messages. For a more developed examination
of the subject, turn to the Rambam’s work The Guide of the Perplexed, from
which this summary is taken.
R. Moshe Chayim Luzzatto (the Ramchal) teaches that “when God
reveals Himself and bestows His influence, a Prophet is greatly
overwhelmed. His body and all his limbs immediately begin to tremble, and
he feels as if he is being turned inside out.”42 He clarifies that “the power of
prophecy is therefore much greater than that of divine inspiration, even with
respect to gaining knowledge. Prophecy can bring about the highest
enlightenment possible for man, namely that which is an aspect of his being
bound to his Creator.”43are given by HaShem to Moses to “gather in your livestock
and everything you have in the field; all the people and the animals [beasts]
that are found in the field that are not gathered into the house—the hail
shall ascend upon them and they shall die.”
he [was] encamped (Exodus 18:5): Chet (8) Nun (50) Hay (5) =
63
“Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, came to Moses with his sons and
wife, to the wilderness where he was encamped, by the Mountain of God.”
Jethro then instructs them in how to adjudicate disputes through the elders.
their slaughter (sacrifice, Exodus 34:15): Mem (40) Zayin (7) 
Bet (2) Chet (8) Vav (6) = 63
God reveals His thirteen attributes of mercy (Exodus 34:5–7) and then
tells Moses and the people not to “seal a covenant with the inhabitants of
the land and stray after their Gods, slaughter [sacrifice] to their Gods, and
he invites you and you [to] eat from his slaughter.”
offers as a sin offering (Leviticus 6:19): Hay (5) Mem (40) 
Chet (8) Tet (9) Alef (1) = 63
“The Kohen who performs its sin offerings service shall eat it; it shall be
eaten in a holy place; in the Courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.” Here God
tells Moses to speak to Aaron and his sons regarding the laws of the sin
offering.
a free will offering (Numbers 15:3): Bet (2) Nun (50) Dalet
(4) Bet (2) Hay (5) = 63
God speaks to Moses of the libations, telling him that they will come to a
land he designates, and there they are to perform “a fire offering to God—a
burnt offering or a feast offering because of an articulated vow or as a free
will offering, or on your festivals to produce a satisfying aroma to God …”
shall bring them in (Numbers 27:17): Yod (10) Bet (2) Yod (10)
 Alef (1) Mem (40) = 63
Moses speaks to God and asks for a successor: “May God, God of the
spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the assembly who shall go out before
them and come in before them, who shall take them out and bring them in;
and let the assembly of God not be like sheep that have no Shepherd.”
and he destroyed them (caused them to perish, Deuteronomy 11:4):
 Vav (6) Yod (10) Alef (1) Bet (2) Dalet (4) Mem (40) = 63
Moses reminds the people that they witnessed the miracles of God,
including when He destroyed the army of Egypt, horses and riders: “And
God caused them to perish until this day.”
and he shall separate him (set him aside, Deuteronomy 29:20): 
Vav (6) Hay (5) Bet (2) Dalet (4) Yod (10) Lamed (30) Vav (6) =
63
“God will set him aside for evil from among all the tribes of Israel.
…” This warns the congregation of Israel against idolatry. God tells them
that those who take part in idolatry will be separated from B’nai Yisrael if
their hearts turn away from being with Him.
SUMMARIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF CHANAH
Each of these Parshiot related to the numeric value of Chanah’s name
shows God’s role in life. In each there is action and a relationship between
God and B’nai Yisrael or between the people and their leaders. In each of
them we witness the merciful guidance the Creator provides and the clarity
with which He makes His will known. The mitzvot are clarified as
obligatory, and we are girded by our faith in God and His teachings.
In Sarah’s name, we find the vessels of holiness. In Miriam’s, we
discover an issue of sinning or not sinning. Purification and atonement are
revealed. In Devorah’s name, we see the extremes of elements in life: day
and night, life and death, the scales of justice. Now, in Netzach, where we
are challenged to endure, to take action from the right side, we see clearly
instances of significant community events and relationships. Numeric
equivalents include the time prior to the building of the Tower of Babel;
when Avimelech kidnaps Sarah; when Joseph is able to give to his people
land from which they can eat; when Jethro encamps and gives over the
ways of adjudication with the elders; the moment when the people are told
not to eat from idolaters’ sacrifices; that we have sin offerings and free-will
offerings; that Moses wants his flock to have a shepherd to bring them in
after he is gone; that all is God’s and we have a covenant to keep.
In these Parshiot, Chanah’s name reveals the way in which God is among
us and how in her case her son becomes a shepherd of Israel. In asking God
“am I of the earth, or am I not?” Chanah makes clear that we must ask this
of ourselves: Who are we, what are we here for, what are we each to do? In
addition, in her prayers and sacrifices every year at Shiloh, we learn that
self-nullification is a vital component of prayer from the heart. Asking what
our place is, what we are here for, and what we are to do is a form of
supplication before the Creator.
It is said that Chanah’s co-wife, Peninah, taunts Chanah to bring her to
beseeching God. Like B’nai Yisrael’s Egyptian enslavement and the
miracles it makes possible when the community calls out to God, Netzach
as victory and eternity shows us that our victories are due to God’s
presence, which is eternal. The fig’s bounty, as our prayers teach us, is due
to God’s blessings. Victory, like defeat, can be swift and clear, and the
covenant of B’nai Yisrael requires ongoing vigilance and right action. In the
simplest of terms, in calling God Host of Hosts (Host of Legions) for the
first time in humankind’s history, Chanah shows that there is only one ruler,
one Creator of all life.
The Royal Bloodline
The body is for the purpose of concealment; the soul is for the purpose of
revelation. Though we are taught that the soul is a radiant nature of oneness,
the body is made of particular parts. By drawing the body into holy deeds—
mitzvah, prayer, song, and Torah study—we elevate the body to a more
holy stature, making it luminous because the soul is emanating the supreme
eternal model from which all of humanity is drawn. The relationship
between prayer and song is proved by Chanah’s revelation in song. Her
declaration of the Creator as Host of Hosts is a moment of revelation. This
is her prophecy in addition to what she knows beforehand of Samuel’s life
and purpose and her own as his mother. Devorah says of herself: until she
“arose a mother in Israel.” We might also say of Chanah that the prophet
Samuel would not have been born until she “arose a mother of Israel.”
As the Shechinah descends, we witness the preparation for the royal
bloodline. Through self-nullification and enduring effort, Chanah prepares
the nation for the royal bloodline, inaugurating through her son Samuel the
age of kings. This means that once we supplicate ourselves entirely to the
Creator for the gift of eternity (descendants), we are able to participate in
the royal lineage of the People of the Book. The individual is anointed as
ruler over his or her own body or kingdom, and we learn through prayer and
right action to elevate our lives, making them fit for receiving the downflow
of love (the seed, Chesed) from the Creator.
It is interesting that after we travel with Chanah to Shiloh, we travel with
Avigail to Hebron and Jerusalem, where the kingdom of David is formed,
where the nation and the individual reinvigorate the promise of the shine of
Moshiach. The Temple is built and the people are brought back to God.
Avigail Continues Where Chanah Leaves Off
Just as we see how Chanah elevates B’nai Yisrael to a new and deeper level
of awareness of the Creator, tradition teaches that we cannot really
understand Netzach (Chanah) without studying Hod (Avigail). “The Zohar
refers to them as ‘two halves of one body, like Twins.’”72 The reader may
find it of interest that Chanah’s story is told in the first book of Samuel.
When Samuel dies, which is essentially the end of Chanah’s story, the
prophetess Avigail arrives in world history, as told in the Torah. Thus we
find that the stories of these prophetesses who represent the “two halves” of
Netzach and Hod are located in the same book of the Torah.
The Collective Narrative of the Prophetesses:
From Ohel to Shiloh to Jerusalem
Each prophetess’s symbolsMOSES: THE GREATEST PROPHET WHO EVER WAS, IS, OR
WILL BE
Tradition teaches us that Moses was unlike any other prophet. As it says in
Exodus (33:11), “God spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his
friend.” Unlike other Prophets, Moses was always in a potential state of
prophecy; he could therefore receive God’s revelation at will. Numbers 7:89
says, “When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting [Ohel Moed], he heard
the Voice speaking to him.” According to Numbers 8:9, when asked an
opinion, Moses was able to answer, “Stand by, and let me hear what
instructions God gives regarding you.” “Moses was able to receive
revelation from God at any time and in any place.”44
At the receiving of the Torah, all of those present reached a state of
prophetic consciousness as they heard the same words uttered by the
Creator through Moses, the greatest prophet of all. While it is true that
Moses heard things others did not, they all heard simultaneously the word
of God revealed through Moses. Furthermore, it is said that all present had
no regard for themselves but only for each other. Their level of
experiencing themselves as one body, as one people united in the
experience of being in the presence of God, has been the testimony of the
covenant between the Jewish people and God ever since. The Torah
received then is the same Torah studied every day of every year by the
living community of the People of the Book.
How the Book Was Written
Because we know that the Torah was given through Moses, it is interesting
to find out how the People of the Book say the Torah was recorded. A
variety of classical Talmudic and Kabbalistic sources describe the process.
God would dictate each passage of the Torah to Moses and Moses
would repeat it out loud. He would then write it down. God would
dictate a paragraph to Moses, and then give him a break in order to
consider it. These breaks are preserved in the Torah in the form of
spacing, dividing the text into pieces or portions (Parshiot). Moses
would transcribe each of these portions as a small scroll. Shortly
before his death, he combined all portions to form the Torah that we
have today. According to another opinion, with the exception of
certain portions that were needed earlier, the entire Torah was
preserved orally until just before Moses’ death when he wrote it all
down at once.45
Another point of view states that “the entire Torah was given to Moses
during two intervals. The first part was given during the year after the
Exodus. The rest was given shortly before Israel crossed the Jordan at the
end of the 40 years in the desert. Between these two periods, there was a
hiatus of 38 years, during which no portion of the Torah was given.”46
It is also said that before he died, Moses wrote by hand thirteen Torah
scrolls. Twelve of these were given to the Twelve Tribes and the thirteenth
was hidden inside the Ark of the Covenant.47 Eventually the Ark was put in
the Holy of Holies of the Temple, and only occasionally was the scroll
brought out in order to check the accuracy of other scrolls produced. We
can hope this holy original scroll is still preserved. It has been hidden since
70 CE and could be revealed at the arrival of Moshiach (the Jewish
Messiah), the Davidic prophet king and redeemer who will assist God in
bringing world peace.
THE PROPHECY OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND THE
PEOPLE OF THE BOOK
Prophecy is predicated on conducting our inner and outer life according to
very particular guidelines. Because it is not just for the individual, but also
for the world, it confirms the oneness of all creation. The Holy Torah begins
with Creation and ends testifying to the greatest prophet who ever was, is,
or will be, Moses our Teacher (Moshe Rabeinu). If prophecy is inextricably
bound up in Torah, then the prophet and the art of prophecy can be viewed
as the outcome of Creation itself, the potential outcome of all the holy
teachings of Judaism. Following the Book can produce the prophetic
experience.
An observant life today is based on the same teachings given to Moses
and the Israelites. The same words held holy and unchangeable as the
divine word of God have not been changed nor, as attested to by the
Thirteen Principles, can they be altered. Adherence to the Book can lead to
union with God and the perfection of humanity, the final outcome and
purpose of creation.
The covenant of being “chosen” obligates the Jewish people to self-
refinement and communal refinement. It is a covenant demanding internal
rigor and the performance of justice and charity leading to the manifestation
of a holy nation. Each person, a nation unto him- or herself, is instructed to
rely on Torah, the Book, and Kabbalah, the keys to the Book’s inner or
concealed teachings. Torah organizes our own kingdom or life in the world
by giving our ministers (hands, feet, and mouth) moral direction. The
observant person attempts to refine and elevate the king (head) and queen
(heart) to wise action and to teach his or her children (emotions) total
devotion to performing good deeds and refraining from all evil in order to
bring into a coherent and humble expression the inner community, the holy
family within. This self-refinement benefits the community we live in as
well as making us a vehicle by which divine providence and God’s will can
be known.
Following the spiritual path shown to us by the prophetesses and the
People of the Book in relationship to Kabbalah’s Etz Chayim (Tree of Life),
an outline of the spiritual worlds, which we will examine next, leads to
hearing and speaking with and for the Divine Master, our God who is one.
The prophetesses and prophets show us the way to holiness, acting as
guides for the rest of humanity, testifying by their lives to that of which
each of us is capable and for which we were designed. It is this process of
self-development, of coming closer to God, that Torah and Kabbalah make
available and that the prophetesses show us how to engage.
2
Kabbalistic Treasure Maps
Introducing the Correspondences to the Seven
Prophetesses of Israel
To appreciate what the seven prophetesses reveal, a basic understanding of
Kabbalah is necessary. The “map” on page 27 contains the majority of
correspondences we will examine in the rest of this book. The numbers in
parentheses next to the prophetesses’ names are their numeric equivalent
when their names are spelled in Hebrew using gematria, a system of
number values assigned to each letter. For more on gematria and how these
numbers have been derived, see the sections on gematria later in this
chapter and in the chapters following this one. For now, because Hebrew
letters have been used in conjunction with “English” spellings of these
letters in chapter 1 and will be used in the pages that follow, the following
chart shows these correspondences.
SUKKAH REVELATION MAP
The correspondences and relationships among the Sefirot, the seven species
attributed to the land of Israel in the Bible, the prophetesses, and the days of
the week were first revealed to me while I sat in my sukkah (booth) during
the harvest festival of Sukkot in 2004 (5764). Tradition teaches us that
Sukkot is a harvest festival recognizing the miraculous protection of the
Israelites during their Exodus. At that time, I was unfamiliar with both the
Arizal’s (R. Isaac Luria’s) teachings on the Sefirot and the species and the
Ramak’s (Moshe Cordovero’s) teachings on the Sefirot and the
prophetesses. As I sat meditating on the seven tzaddikim (righteous ones)
we traditionally invite into our sukkahs over the eight-day-long festivities, I
saw the same pattern of relationships that the Arizal and Cordovero
describe.1 They were shown to me in a combined fashion in a momentary
picture in my mind. In addition to intuiting what can be called the historic
esoteric correspondences, I was shown a component, represented by the
following sukkah revelation map, that served as the impetus for writing this
book. It was not until a year and a half later that Ilearned from my blessed
teachers, R. Avraham Brandwein of Jerusalem and R. Noah Shavrick of
Baltimore, about the original sources confirming my “woman’s intuition.”
HEBREW LETTER CHART
What I was shown in a single image is that when the prophetesses’ lives
are combined into a historical sequence, a profound description of the
process of development is revealed. This process applies both to individuals
and to the global community and the world itself. The story embodied
collectively by the seven prophetesses is suggested by the quality of each
Sefirah, its purpose as taught traditionally, what is concealed in the
narratives of the prophetesses, the Hebrew names of the seven women, and
the places they occupy on the Tree of Life. The following sukkah revelation
map shows this blueprint of progressive and gradual development as it was
shown to me. Under each prophetess’s name are descriptive words that,
when seen in their totality, describe the revelation I had of the descent of
God’s Immanence into the history of the People of the Book. For instance,
under Sarah are the words seed and creation. Deliverance appears under
Miriam, moral order under Devorah, spiritual order under Chanah, royal
bloodline under Avigail, World to Come under Chuldah, and redemption
and resurrection appear under Esther. When the lives of the prophetesses
are put into this allegorical form, as we know them from the Bible, we can
begin to understand how the Tree of Life is a divine map for our own and
the world’s repair. The lives of the seven prophetesses of Israel seem to
guide us ultimately on this archetypal and universal journey. They teach us
about the properties of the Divine Immanence of the Creator or Shechinah
and how the Shechinah is experienced. The prophetesses show us how to
unite with the Shechinah—the prerequisite to prophecy itself.
This map and teaching demonstrate that our own and the world’s
development is a seven-stage process.2 They reflect the seven-stage descent
of the Shechinah into the life of Israel. The story of the prophetesses’
collective lives, when explored more deepy, reveals this cosmic map. In it
we can see the story of creation and redemption to, ultimately, resurrection.
This was the heart of what I learned on that auspicious night of Sukkot.
Map 1 ( Alef): Revelation map showing the seven prophetesses of Israel and correspondences
(revealed 2004/5764)3
PARDES: FOUR WAYS TO INTERPRET TORAH
There are four traditional ways of studying Judaism’s Torah. R. Avraham
Brandwein4 describes this traditional teaching in Classical Kabbalah: The
Hidden Teachings of Torah and the Zohar.5 He writes: “The Torah is
divided into four strata, called ‘PaRDeS,’ the Orchard, an acronym for
Peshat, Remez, Derush, Sod (Literal, Allusion, Homiletical, and Secret).
Peshat, the literal translation, is the external form of Torah; Remez,
allusion, is internal. Derush, homiletical meaning, is more internal, and Sod,
Kabbalah, is the most internal.”6 This book uses a combination of all of
these approaches.
THE STORY OF THE SEVEN PROPHETESSES: HUMANITY’S
JOURNEY
In the Torah are recorded forty-eight male prophets and Moses, the greatest
prophet of all. Though there were thousands of men and women possessing
some level of prophetic talent, only seven women of Israel are actually
called prophets (prophetesses). If the Creator does everything with purpose,
why were only seven prophetesses needed for the development of B’nai
Yisrael (Children of Israel)? Why did they come onto the world stage in the
order that they did? What is the relationship between the seven prophetesses
and the Tree of Life (Etz Chayim), a Kabbalistic “map” describing qualities
every human and every world is made of and must refine?
During Sukkot, each night we invite one of the seven male leaders of
Judaism—Abraham (Avraham), Isaac (Yitzchak), Jacob (Yaakov) Moses
(Moshe), Aaron, Joseph (Yosef), and David—into the Sukkah, and each is
an expression of the lower seven of the ten Sefirot (vessels of light)
comprising the Etz Chayim. Could the prophetesses, like the patriarchs,
have a similar correspondence, given that there are seven of them? Also, as
indicated on map 1, there are seven species attributed to the land of Israel in
the Bible: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olive oil, and date
honey. Do they have a connection to the prophetesses and the Sefirot? How
might the seven days of the week fit into this correspondence system? This
book is an attempt to answer these questions, for they were the ones I asked
when I started my own Kabbalistic journey with the prophetesses.
Discovering some of the spiritual teachings of the seven prophetesses of
Israel has been a humbling and glorious journey. This community of holy
women can help us all work together for the betterment of the world and
can lead us to experience God in our hearts and actions. The prophetesses
show people from all faiths and traditions how to reach our greatest
potential by integrating body, mind, and soul for the repair of the world
through human refinement. The Kabbalistic studies of R. Isaac Luria’s Tree
of Life (Etz Chayim) and the ideas and traditions that come from this root
are the tradition from which this book blossoms. Using a combination of
traditional methods for our inquiry into the hidden teachings of the seven
prophetesses of Israel, we discover that what is revealed in their collective
story is the inner journey of every person and all of humanity.7
KABBALISTIC TEACHINGS:THE ETZ CHAYIM AND THE
DESCENT OF THE LIGHT
Kabbalah is the Hebrew term for “received tradition,” stemming from its
three-letter root, KBL, or kibel ( Kof Bet Lamed). It was an oral
tradition for many centuries before ever being written down. It is the secret
(sod) of the Torah, the Hebrew scriptures of the People of the Book.
Figure 2.1. The Tree of Life, or Etz Chayim.
Kabbalah’s map is called the Etz Chayim, or the Tree of Life, and it is
this map that guides us on our journey with the prophetesses themselves.
According to Kabbalah, there are ten Sefirot, or “vessels,” differentiated
from the light they hold. An analogy would be that a pitcher that holds
water is different from the water it holds, yet the function of both is made
possible by the combination of the two elements: a vessel and what fills it.
According to the Arizal, “The first reference to Sefirot [singular Sefirah]
occurs in Sefer Yetzirah [Book of Formation], an early Jewish
contemplative text.… [It] describes ten entities that it calls Sefirot, which
are instrumental in the creation of the world, relating the Sefirah to the
Hebrew words safar (to count), book (sefer) and communication (sippur).”
Later commentaries added the term for sapphire, brightness (Sappir), an
additional meaning of the word Sefirah. These archetypal spheres of action
are “metaphysical forces, luminous emanations, the agents of the Deity …”8
in this spiritual blueprint. The Tree of Life is a lifetime itinerary for spiritual
development. It is a guidebook for relating to God’s divinity and His holy
Word and for the refinement of the self and all of humanity.
Qualities of Each Sefirah
Here is a brief summary of the qualities of each Sefirah of classical
Kabbalah and how we experience each in our lives. There are also
numerous books available on the basic attributes of each Sefirah.9
Keter (Crown): The light of illumination and the source of all life. We
may experience this emanation as the “glow” that occurs in moments
of mental, emotional, and spiritual oneness. It is the light of the Creator
that flows to us through our body, mind, and soul. It is also called the
limitless light (Or En Sof).
Chochmah (Wisdom): Called the Father (Abba), wisdom is a type of
whole knowing and whole seeing. We see patterns and relationships in
a type of “vision” beyond intellectual analysis. It is the flash of divine
insight people experience as a “peak” moment, one in which some
great issue or question is solved by revelation.
Binah(Understanding): Referred to as the Mother (Imma), Binah
enables analysis of information, the ability to compare, differentiate,
and synthesize various components into an articulated whole. It is
referred to commonly as “woman’s intuition” and suggests a type of
second sense that is rational and intuitive at the same time.
Daat (Knowledge): In some sources, Daat is given the attribution of Bat
Kol, or the Daughter of the Voice, the hidden but knowable presence of
the Creator through the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh). It is a
combination of the quality of wisdom (Chochmah) and understanding
(Binah) that produces our knowledge. Daat represents the knowledge
we acquire from personal experience and divine guidance. It is not
simply information, as knowledge is sometimes characterized.
Chesed (Loving-kindness): Chesed is the impulse to do well, to love
others unconditionally, to give charity. It knows no boundaries of its
own and enables the expansive quality of experiencing all life as one
life accentuating inclusiveness. Chesed requires its left-pillar partner,
Gevurah, in order to express itself properly. (For more on the pillars,
see map 2 on page 47.) Just as a river needs its banks, we need to make
boundaries for generous behavior.
Gevurah (Judgment, Strength): Strength and judgment proceed from
our ability to discern the proper place and time for everything. Gevurah
is a type of discipline of evaluation. While Chesed will compel us to
act generously or to have an idea, to seed or begin a plan, Gevurah
helps us apply the idea or impulse in a beneficial fashion. Gevurah
without Chesed could lead to brutality, selfishness, and exclusivity.
Tiferet (Beauty, Truth): Tiferet is the Sefirah where five other Sefirot
connect. It is the middle of the middle pillar and represents our ability
to integrate, harmonize, and present our actions and ourselves in a
beautiful balance, using all of our talents and attributes. As the balance
of parts, it is synonymous with truth. This is the secret about truth:
Like beauty, truth integrates parts, even opposite ideas, into a balanced
whole. Beauty describes how we are to relate to others. Tiferet helps us
bring out the best in every situation and person.
Netzach (Victory, Eternity): Netzach is our ability to endure, to apply
ourselves tirelessly to some task, to put a plan into action and follow
through with it. It is the way the willpower (ratzon) of a person is
applied to life and leads to victory. Netzach shows us the Creator’s
tireless participation in the world and how our devotion to Him in any
undertaking is what makes His participation manifest in the world of
action.
Hod (Majesty, Glory, Humility): Hod is the key to our humility, to our
ability to surrender ourselves to God’s will, which is inherent in our
lives and the world around us. This is the Sefirah that helps us nullify
our egos. As the partner to Netzach, Hod keeps our willed action in the
world from being overbearing or too demanding of others. Hod and
Netzach combined allow us to give the world our ideas in a manner
suitable to our abilities and in a lasting fashion. In Hod we experience
humility in action, a type of majestic splendor.
Yesod (Foundation, Covenant): Yesod is the place of covenant or bond
between the Creator and humanity. Yesod reminds us that all our
efforts, indeed all our lives, express not only God’s commitment to us,
but also our commitment to His will. For a foundation to be successful,
it must be built on the qualities mentioned in the Etz Chayim: love,
judgment, beauty, enduring will, and humility. The descent of the light
is an accumulative developmental description of a way for
participating in the world.
Malchut (Sovereignty, Kingdom): Malchut is the physical world in
which we live. It is our place of action. It is where the soul and body,
as a united partnership with the Creator, use all endowments for the
repair of the world (tikkun olam) and our own spiritual repair
(teshuvah). It is a return to unity with God. Using as a totality
Chochmah (wisdom), Binah (understanding), Daat (knowledge),
Chesed (loving-kindness), Gevurah (strength and judgment), Tiferet
(the ability to create harmony, beauty), Netzach (victory and eternity),
Hod (humility and selflessness), and Yesod (our covenant with God),
we are guided toward becoming holy humans. The stated destiny of the
People of the Book is to become a holy nation, a light unto the nations
of the world.
A Summary of the Sefirot and Their Attributes
Keter: Crown
Chochmah: Wisdom
Binah: Understanding 
Daat: Knowledge 
Chesed: Loving-kindness
Gevurah: Judgment, Strength
Tiferet: Beauty, Truth
Netzach: Victory, Eternity
Hod: Majesty, Glory, Humility
Yesod: Foundation, Covenant
Malchut: Sovereignty, Kingdom
CLASSICAL KABBALISTIC SOURCES AND ETZ CHAYIM
This book uses a combination of already established correspondence
systems that, when interpreted as a single story or a unity of parts,
contributes to a deeper understanding of the lessons in the lives of the
prophetesses. Kabbalah is considered a system of correspondences, and
sages (Chazal) over the centuries describe the many ways the world is
reflected through the Tree of Life of the Zohar and of Kabbalah in general.10
The Great and Holy Arizal (R. Isaac Luria; 1534–1572 CE), a principal
kabbalist in Jewish history, taught that the Etz Chayim is a guide to
understanding all of Torah’s concealed wisdom. The Arizal revealed a
correspondence between each Sefirah and one of the seven sacred species
that the Creator gave to Israel as listed in Deuteronomy 8:8: wheat, barley,
grapes, figs, pomegranates, olive oil, and date honey. Map 1 and the chart
on page 36 show how each of these species corresponds to each of the
seven prophetesses.11 R. Moshe Cordovero (the Ramak; 1522–1570 CE)
revealed a correspondence between each prophetess and one of the seven
lower Sefirot. The Ramak’s teachings on this subject can be found in a book
written by his benefactor and student, Menachem De Fano.12
THE SEVEN SPECIES AND THE TEMPLE SERVICES
In addition to these aspects of the Sefirot and the prophetesses, there is
correspondence to the seven species of Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) as
taught by the great Kabbalistic master R. Isaac Luria, the Arizal HaKadosh
(Holy Lion). Not only are these species the elements of Jewish ritual today
as they were long ago, but they are also the agricultural products by which
the Jewish people’s lives have been sustained throughout history.
There is a beautiful text called the Perek Shira, or Song of the Universe,
that contains the eighty-five songs of God’s animals, plants, and elements.
There is no agreement about the author, though some have credited King
David, others King Solomon, and yet others the sages of the Mishnah,
including R. Akiva.13 There is also disagreement regarding who sings these
songs. One teaching suggests that each creature and element sings its own
song. Others say these are songs only the angels sing. Another opinion is
that the songs were intended to be neither sung nor spoken but rather are
implicit in each of the eighty-five created elements of God’s universe.
In examining the Perek Shira relative to our study of the Sefirot, the
prophetesses, and the seven species, we can find a song for all of the
species except one: the olive tree and its fruit. There is a general song sung
by all the trees of the field, but no single song for the olive or olive tree.
Given the significance of the olive as the source of the oil that produces the
sacred eternal flame in the Jewish Temple and the ritual tradition of lighting
Sabbath oil lamps, this absence is a great mystery that I leave to the readers
to explore. Perhaps it is because the olive tree (oil) falls in Yesod with
Chuldah, which is considered hidden or concealed, and as such, it will have
its song at the time of redemption. “In the future, with Moshiach,” R.
Avraham Brandwein mused when I asked him for his opinion on this
mystery I had discovered. Some haveeven suggested that perhaps the olive
tree was the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden (Gan Eden) forbidden to
Adam and Eve. Whatever the reason, Perek Shira has no song for this one
holy species, but the other six species (wheat, barley, grapes, figs,
pomegranates, and date honey) do have songs. The Perek Shira is a
wonderful holy writing for people of all ages and of all faiths. Here, I have
included the Torah source for the song of each species.
PEREK SHIRA’S BIBLICAL SOURCES FOR THE SONGS OF THE
SEVEN SPECIES
For more on the seven species of Israel and their gematria, see the
gematria sections later in this chapter.
INTEGRATING THE ARIZAL’S SPECIES–SEFIROT
CORRESPONDENCE AND THE RAMAK’S PROPHETESSES–
SEFIROT CORRESPONDENCE
To the Arizal’s correspondence between the species and the Sefirot and the
Ramak’s insights into the prophetesses and the Sefirot I have added the
traditional correspondences of the seven days of the week to arrive at a
basic set of relationships that can assist us in our daily lives throughout the
year. When we combine them as a larger system of correspondences, other
patterns begin to emerge.
The Sefirot and the Prophetesses
From Sarah, the first prophetess, we learn about Chesed, loving-kindness,
the species wheat, and Sunday. From Miriam, the second prophetess, we
learn about Gevurah, strength in leadership and judgment, the species
barley, and Monday. From Devorah, the third prophetess, we learn about
Tiferet, the species grape, and Tuesday and we experience liberation and the
art of synthesizing—combining various qualities to make a balanced
harmony in society that reflects truth and beauty. Chanah, the fourth
prophetess, and Netzach correspond to the species fig and Wednesday. She
shows us how our endurance leads to achieving victory and how to pray and
act as a holy partner with God. Avigail, the fifth prophetess, corresponds to
Hod, the species pomegranate, and Thursday. She leads us in the act of
selfless devotion and peacemaking, showing us the majesty that comes from
humility. The prophetess Chuldah, the sixth, and Yesod correspond to the
species olive oil and Friday. She shows us the foundational covenant we
have with the Creator and His promise of our ultimate deliverance from
ignorance and the experience of separateness. Esther, the seventh and final
of the seven biblical prophetesses of Israel, is located in the Sefirah of
Malchut, whose species is date honey and whose day is Shabbat (Sabbath).
She teaches us how to reflect all of the attributes of the Sefirot into an
integrated life as a sovereign person and world, leading to redemption from
the oppression of selfishness to an experience of unity and closeness to
God.
THE SEFIROT, THE ARIZAL AND RAMAK SYSTEMS, AND THE
DAYS OF THE WEEK
A Guide to Daily and Holiday Reflection
Though we will not explore in great depth the implications of the
correspondences among the Sefirot, the species, and how they relate to the
days of the week and even the hours of the day, this book is useful for daily
reflection and for learning more about specific rituals and holidays.
Kabbalah is not a philosophy; it is a description of the workings of the
ten-dimensional individual and universe. The correspondences between the
days of the week and the Sefirot can help us structure our lives in a pattern
that is more attuned to the Creator’s plan. They add another dimension to
our observance of Torah during the year, in our daily activities, and provide
a spiritual structure for aligning ourselves with the divine source. By
reading each prophetess’s chapter in this book on the day of the week to
which she is assigned (i.e., Sarah on Sunday, Miriam on Monday, Devorah
on Tuesday, etc.), the prophetesses become our teachers for the days of our
lives. For example, the week in Judaism begins on Sunday (Sabbath—
Saturday—is the pinnacle of the week before). Sunday is associated with
Sarah and Chesed and the species wheat. On Sunday we can focus our
attention and intention on the quality and mitzvot of loving-kindness,
performing charity, or making bread for others. On Monday, associated with
Miriam and Gevurah and the species barley, we can work at refining a plan
or task by discerning what is good and what needs to be changed or
rejected.
Another dimension of the Etz Chayim comes into our lives in a practical
and spiritual way when we contemplate each prophetess on her associated
holiday (see the following chart for holiday correspondences) and examine
the prayers and blessings with which each is associated. If we also apply to
prayer and study on holidays the progressive methodology of daily
contemplation of the prophetesses and their correspondences, the
prophetesses show us a universal road map.
We can also express these spiritual capacities by using the seven species
(foods) in a more conscious fashion in our diet. For instance, based on the
Tree of Life, wheat (Chesed) and barley (Gevurah) complement one
another, just as figs (Netzach) and pomegranates (Hod) are a healthy
combination. Olive oil (Yesod) is an apparent foundation for a healthy diet.
Using all the elements presented, the lives of the prophetesses provide a
weekly guide for meditation, prayer, right action, and even food combining.
Following the attributes assigned to each day of the week gives a spiritual
correspondence to the planning of our activities. Following is a chart of
correspondences for the prophetesses, Sefirot, species, major Jewish
holidays, blessings, and days of the week. Though not all scholars agree on
these correspondences, they reflect the content culled from the chapters of
this book.
PROPHETESS–HOLIDAY CORRESPONDENCES
STAGES OF INDIVIDUAL AND GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
The seven stages of Sefirotic, prophetic, and evolutionary development,
which the combined seven lives of the prophetesses represent, are, in their
entirety, a description of what each of our lives can fully express. They are a
holy manifestation of the Creator’s Kabbalistic map, the Tree of Life.
Through the prophetesses we are shown the treasure map held by the
People of the Book and are shown how to use it to understand Torah and
ourselves. I believe it accurately describes personal, global, and spiritual
reality.14
A brief overview of this developmental progression begins with Sarah as
a representative of creation. Miriam brings deliverance. Devorah shows us
right moral action. Chanah demonstrates right spiritual decorum. Avigail
demonstrates true humility and commitment to a royal bloodline. Chuldah
points to our inheritance of the eternal words of Torah and the World to
Come. Esther reveals the promise of redemption and ultimately resurrection
and what it means to be a holy human in partnership with the Creator. When
all are combined, we inherit God’s guide for becoming holy humans.
Stages of Individual and Global Development
1.  Seed, Creation
2.  Deliverance, Manifestation
3.  Moral Order
4.  Spiritual Order
5.  Royal Bloodline
6.  World to Come
7.  Redemption, Resurrection
KABBALAH: DECODING THE CREATOR’S BLUEPRINT
The Torah is the Creator’s blueprint for creation. “Blessed are You, God,
our God, King of the Universe, Who gave us the Torah of Truth and
implanted eternal life within us. Blessed are You, God, Giver of Torah.”15
Kabbalah’s Etz Chayim is the decoding map for understanding the secrets
of the written and oral teaching of the Torah. The map represents Adam
Kadmon, the primordial man from which all of the worlds originate. “This
Adam Kadmon acts as a filter through which the light of the Infinite is
emanated,” says the Arizal, “especially from his eyes, ears, nose, and
mouth, representing the human organs of vision, hearing, smell, and
speech.”16 Adam Kadmon was how the Creator engendered the four worlds
by which the universe is structured: emanation (Atzilut), creation (Beriyah),
formation (Yetzirah), and action (Asiyah). Our bodies and souls and all of
creation function in these four dimensions.
That humanity is made in God’s image explains